There is disclosed an inhaler 10 for delivery of a medicament by inhalation. The inhaler 10 comprises a drive mechanism comprising a canister drive 22 for receiving a canister 50 of medicament, a biasing means 20, and a trigger mechanism. The trigger mechanism comprises a latch 35. The latch 35 has a locked position in which it contacts the canister drive 22 to prevent linear movement of the canister drive 22 and holds the biasing means 20 in a loaded configuration; and an unlocked position in which the latch 35 is disengaged from the canister drive 22 and releases the biasing means 20 from the loaded configuration to drive the canister drive 22 from a rest position to an actuated position. The trigger mechanism comprises a blocker 32. The blocker 32 has a blocking position in which it contacts the latch 35 to block movement thereof from the locked position to the unlocked position; and a rotated position in which the blocker 32 is disengaged from the latch 35 and allows movement of the latch 35 from the locked position to the unlocked position. The blocker 32 is rotatable in response to a force applied to the blocker 32. A method of operation of an inhaler 10 is also disclosed.

A method for determining respiratory rate from an audio respiratory signal comprising capturing the audio respiratory signal generated by a subject using a microphone. The method also comprises segmenting the audio respiratory signal into a plurality of overlapping frames. For each frame of the plurality of overlapping frames, the method comprises extracting a signal envelope, computing an auto-correlation function, computing an FFT spectrum from the auto-correlation function and computing a respiratory rate of the subject using the FFT spectrum.

An inhaler for delivery of a medicament by inhalation is disclosed. The inhaler comprises a dispensing mechanism, the dispensing mechanism being configured to dispense a dose of medicament on actuation. The inhaler further comprises a dose counting mechanism comprising a counter and a translating member. The translating member comprises a pawl. The counter comprises a first count wheel, a second count wheel and an intermediate wheel engaged with the second count wheel and in selective engagement with the first count wheel. When the inhaler is fired to dispense a dose of medicament, the dispensing mechanism moves the translating member in a substantially linear direction. The pawl thus rotates the first count wheel, and as the first count wheel rotates, the intermediate wheel is selectively engaged thereby selectively rotating the second count wheel to count the doses of the inhaler.

A compliance monitoring module for a breath-actuated inhaler comprising: a miniature pressure sensor, a sensor port of said sensor being pneumatically coupled to a flow channel through which a user can inhale; a processor configured to: receive a signal originating from a dosing mechanism of the inhaler indicating that medication has been released; receive data from a sensing element of the sensor; and based on said signal from said dosing mechanism and said data from said sensing element, make a determination that inhalation of a breath containing medication through said flow channel complies with one or more predetermined requirements for successful dosing; and a transmitter configured to, responsive to said determination, issue a dosing report.

A process and a nebulizer for dispensing a consecutively dose of medicament in the form of a mist, comprising: an energy source (ES), an air-conditioning volume, an air outlet fluidity connected to the air-containing volume, an air actuator adapted to release a flow of compressed air through the air outlet at such time as a predetermined ES pressure has been reached in the volume and at least two valve means in communication with the air actuator. The compressed air is released at a predetermined pressure of about 20 to about 100 psig. The valve means controls the actuation of the air actuator such that when a medication is nebulized, a mist distribution of a medication is formed having droplets size in the range of approximately 1μ to approximately 7μ which inhaled by a user at a set of predetermined intervals.

A dry powder inhaler including replaceable cartridges containing a dry powder for local or systemic delivery through the pulmonary tract and lungs is disclosed. The inhalers are used with inhalable dry powders, including medicament formulations comprising active agents for local or systemic delivery and for the treatment of diseases such as, pulmonary hypertension, cardiovascular disease, anaphylaxis, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and other diseases, or symptoms associated with these and other diseases, such as nausea, vomiting, pain and inflammation.

Adherence monitors are disclosed, incorporating cap removal sensors together with a determined time period in order to determine that a dose of medicament has been dispensed. In another form, cap removal data is combined with acoustic data to determine that a dose of medicament has been dispensed. Several specific structural arrangements are also disclosed.

A dry powder inhaler consisting of a reusable base unit and a disposable drug package is disclosed. The reusable portion may house a transducer, a controller, battery and user interface. The disposable portion may house a dose pellet in a sealed dose chamber that includes an integrated mouthpiece. A user may couple the disposable portion to the reusable portion of the inhaler. The inhaler may sense the user's breathe and synchronize delivery of the pharmaceutical or drug to the user.

The present invention relates to an inhaler which comprises a durable unit and a replaceable (cartridge) unit, and which comprises systems, subsystems and elements to provide an “open-inhale-close” user experience. A durable unit comprises a breath-actuated trigger mechanism, and optionally electronics for providing user feedback, and telehealth can capability. A replaceable unit comprises a mouthpiece, blister strip, aerosol path dose counter and a blister piercing and aerosolization engine assembly assembly. A lockout mechanism may be provided to prevent further use of the cartridge when the dose counter reaches a preselected limit, such as zero.

Provided is a system for determining a probability of a respiratory disease exacerbation in a subject. The system comprises an inhaler arrangement for delivering a medicament to the subject. The medicament may be a rescue medicament and/or a maintenance medicament. The inhaler arrangement has a use-detection system configured to determine an inhalation performed by the subject using the inhaler arrangement. A sensor system is configured to measure a parameter relating to airflow during the inhalation. A user interface enables user-input of an indication of a status of the respiratory disease being experienced by the subject. A processor is configured to determine the probability of the respiratory disease exacerbation based on the recorded inhalation(s) from the use-detection system, the parameter(s) received from the sensor system, and the indication received from the user interface. Further provided is a method for determining the probability of a respiratory disease exacerbation in a subject.