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From Liquid To Aerosol: Exploring Droplet Formation in Vibrating Mesh Nebulization

Heine B, Veith B, Geppert A, Selzer T, Denis T, Kaufmann K, Maier S, Schlun M, Seemann S, Weigand B.

Respiratory Drug Delivery 2024. Volume 1, 2024: 111-122.

Abstract:

Aerosol therapy is an established technique to administer drugs by inhalation, offering well established clinical and patient benefits. However, given the complex multifactorial nature of drug nebulization and delivery to target sites, multiple opportunities remain to optimize key elements of aerosol generation to achieve increased efficiency and effectiveness. The aim of the present work is to characterize and understand the process of respirable aerosol generation at a microscopic scale using a mesh nebulizer by employing an experimental and numerical approach. Experimentally, the formation of droplets as a function of the mesh motion was studied by visualizing aerosol formation from a single line of laser drilled holes across a mesh. Numerically, a single axisymmetric hole was investigated to gain insight into the flow physics inside the hole, during break-up and grouping of droplets at a high spatiotemporal resolution. Optimizing the hole geometry of mesh nebulizers to offer enhanced drug administration may have particular importance in the context of novel and emerging advanced therapeutic applications which may involve breath actuated devices, sensitive mRNA or complex proteins where achieving high output rates at low droplet sizes may be challenging.