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  • #6 - Smart Inhaler

Labs Idea #6: Smart Inhaler

  • Motivation/Summary
  • Approach/Measurement
  • Implementation

Author: Sensirion Innovations Team
January 2018


Motivation/Summary

Conventional "non-smart" metered dose inhalers (MDIs) or dry powder inhalers (DPIs) against asthma, COPD and other diseases suffer from limitations such as unreliable and inconsistent drug delivery, lack of dose confidence and no compliance monitoring. Monitoring of inspiratory flow and volume in smart inhalers overcome these limitation, leading to less waste of costly drugs and improved patient outcomes.


Approach/Measurement

Sensirion's miniaturized differential pressure sensor SDP3x is a semiconductor MEMS version of the traditional hot wire anemometer. It is easily integrated into a metered dose or dry powder inhaler to accurately measure the inspiratory flow passing through the inhaler and into the patients' lungs (Figure 1). As opposed to diaphragm based differential pressure sensors, Sensirion's CMOSens differential pressure sensor characteristic shows high sensitivity especially at low differential pressures (Figure 2). This allows to reliably measure ultra-low differential pressures and therewith accurately measure the flow passing through the inhaler, independent of inhaler type (high resistance or low resistance MDI or DPI).

Figure 1: Sketch of SDP3x integrated into inhaler
Figure 2: Sensirion's differential pressure sensors are more sensitive at low flows and differential pressures than diaphragm type pressure sensors

The measurement of an example inspiratory flow profile is presented in Figure 3. Inhalation duration, flow profile, volume (by integrating over the inhalation profile) as well as many other quantities such as the peak inhalation rate or volume can easily be extracted from the curves shown in Figure 3 and 4.

Figure 3: Example of inhaled flow profile measured with SDP3x using a generic inhaler
Figure 4: Re-plotting data of Figure 3 with inhaled flow rate vs. inhaled volume.

Conclusion

The measurement results demonstrate that Sensirion's SDP3x differential pressure sensor is well suited to measure the inspired air flow in smart inhalers. The high sensitivity of the SDP3x allows highly accurate flow measurement across different inhaler types. Specifically, the SDP3x integrated into inhalers allows to measure:

  • patient inhaled correctly (according to instructions) through the inhaler
  • inhalation reached the defined peak flow or volume and total inhaled volume
  • inhalation flow characteristics

Implementation

To build a smart inhaler (Figure 5) the Sensirion differential pressure sensor SDP3x series (Figure 6) can be sourced from distributors listed on the Sensirion website. Communicate with the digital sensor over I2C according to the explanations in the SDP3x series datasheet or use the appropriate evaluation kit.

Figure 5: Smart inhaler
Figure 6: SDP3x differential pressure sensors for measuring flow

Patent Information

No information or recommendation presented on this website do absolve you from the obligation of investigating the possibility of infringement of third parties’ rights and, if necessary, clarifying the position.


Related Products to this Article

Sensirion Differential Pressure Sensors SDP3x

Differential Pressure Sensor SDP3x

The SDP3x differential pressure sensor measures just 5mm x 8mm x 5mm, opening up new dimensions of integration and applications possibilities. It features excellent accuracy and long-term stability.

Sensirion Differential Pressure EK-P4 1

Evaluation Kit EK-P4

The evaluation kit EK-P4 enables an easy and cost-efficient evaluation and qualification of Sensirion's SDP3x differential pressure sensors. Test now the features of the differential pressure sensor.


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