FDA funds Australian research for better, affordable asthma inhalers
Associate Professor Agisilaos KourmatzisAccording to Associate Professor Kourmatzis, dry powder inhalers are a tricky area to study because they deliver very complex dosages compared to medicines that are swallowed, like tablets.
“It’s a bit like trying to land a spaceship loaded with precious cargo on an asteroid using a PlayStation controller.
Basically, you have particles of medicine flying through a device, then the mouth, throat and airways, eventually having to land in a specific area in the lungs, all the while trying to avoid losses along the way – it’s not a simple process,” he said.
“Our study aims to enhance in-vitro testing to help us better understand what is really going on in these complex systems.
“We will do this using more sophisticated data to drive the development of computational models that can fill in the gaps that we can't address in the lab and by developing new optical and laser-based techniques that can offer new insights into this problem.”The research team also includes Dr Liam Milton McGurk, Dr Taye Mekonnen and Dr Gajendra Singh from the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, Dr Patricia Tang from Sydney Pharmacy School and Associate Professor Shaokoon Cheng from Macquarie University’s School of Engineering.
Associate Professor Agisilaos Kourmatzis
According to Associate Professor Kourmatzis, dry powder inhalers are a tricky area to study because they deliver very complex dosages compared to medicines that are swallowed, like tablets.
“It’s a bit like trying to land a spaceship loaded with precious cargo on an asteroid using a PlayStation controller. Basically, you have particles of medicine flying through a device, then the mouth, throat and airways, eventually having to land in a specific area in the lungs, all the while trying to avoid losses along the way – it’s not a simple process,” he said.
“Our study aims to enhance in-vitro testing to help us better understand what is really going on in these complex systems.
“We will do this using more sophisticated data to drive the development of computational models that can fill in the gaps that we can't address in the lab and by developing new optical and laser-based techniques that can offer new insights into this problem.”
The research team also includes Dr Liam Milton McGurk, Dr Taye Mekonnen and Dr Gajendra Singh from the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, Dr Patricia Tang from Sydney Pharmacy School and Associate Professor Shaokoon Cheng from Macquarie University’s School of Engineering.
