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Published on: April 6, 2017
Nasal deposition in infants and children
Yue Zhou1, Mindy Guo, Jinxiang Xi
11 Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute , Albuquerque, NM 87108.
Insights
Particle deposition in infant and child nasal airways is higher than in adults. A new empirical equation accurately estimates nasal aerosol deposition across all age groups using particle size and airway pressure drop.
Area of Science:
- Aerosol science and inhalation technology
- Pediatric respiratory research
Background:
- Nasal particle deposition varies significantly in infants and children due to airway differences.
- Accurate estimation is crucial for pediatric inhalation drug delivery.
- Existing models for children's nasal deposition have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a simple, unified method for calculating nasal aerosol deposition in all age groups.
- To address the need for better pediatric nasal deposition estimation.
Main Methods:
- In vitro testing of micrometer particle deposition in nasal replicas of infants, children, and adults.
- Utilized oleic acid aerosols (2-28 μm) under resting breathing conditions.
- Compared results with previous data from a 5-year-old replica.
Main Results:
- Infant and child nasal aerosol deposition is higher than adult deposition under similar breathing conditions.
- Nasal deposition is strongly dependent on particle size and airway pressure drop.
- A single empirical equation effectively calculates deposition across all tested age groups.
Conclusions:
- An empirical equation has been developed to estimate nasal particle deposition efficiency.
- This equation requires only particle size and airway pressure drop as input.
- The findings provide a simplified approach for estimating nasal aerosol deposition in pediatric populations.
Background:
The variability of particle deposition in infant and child nasal airways is significant due to the airway geometry and breathing rate. Estimation of particle deposition in the nasal airway of this age group is necessary, especially for inhalation drug delivery application. Previous studies on nasal aerosol deposition were focused mostly on adult. A few empirical equations were also developed to calculate nasal deposition in different age groups of children. However, those studies have their limitations. The aim of this study is to find a simple way to calculate the nasal aerosol deposition in all age groups.
Methods:
An in vitro test of micrometer particle deposition in nasal airways for three different ages of infants and children is conducted. An adult nasal replica is also studied as a comparison. Monodisperse oleic acid aerosols ranging in size between 2 and 28 μm are delivered into the replica at the rest condition. This size range covers the deposition efficiency up to around 100%. This study also compares results from our previous deposition tests with a 5-year-old replica.
Results:
Nasal deposition of micrometer aerosols in small children and infants is higher than that in adults under equivalent breathing conditions, e.g., sitting awake in this study. Combining the data set of infants, children, and adults, we found the deposition in the nasal airway strongly depends on the particle size and pressure drop. The particle deposition can be calculated based on a single empirical equation in all age groups. The intersubject variability within the same age group was not addressed in this study.
Conclusions:
An empirical equation for all age groups is developed. From this equation, particle deposition efficiency in the nasal airway can best be estimated with input data of particle size and pressure drop of the airway.
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