Inhaler Lung Deposition in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience breathing difficulties because the airways deep in their lungs become narrowed. COPD patients use inhaler drugs to provide relief from breathlessness. However, current inhalers are inefficient as they deliver a 'coarse-mist' of drug-droplets that do not reach the deep airways. In the first part of the study, we will use an inhaler of 'fine-mist' drug-droplets, tagged with a radioactive tracer to track lung deposition in participants with COPD as well as Healthy participants. We will acquire images of the lungs with a gamma camera and calculate the Penetration Index (PI) to see if the fine-mist droplets reach the deep airways, and assess if this improves the breathing capacity in the COPD participants. Our research may allow the development of new, more efficient inhalers to improve treatment for patients with COPD.