The scope of this study was intended to compare the aerosol performance and delivered dose efficiency of a continuous-output mesh nebulizer and a novel breath-actuated device using terbutaline sulphate nebulising solution. Aerodynamic particle size distribution studies revealed that both devices were capable of delivering appropriate fine particle fractions (continuous output = 50.1±0.9%; breath actuated = 64.7±0.4%), with the breath-actuated device generating a higher percentage. The delivered dose testing using a breathing simulator to mimic an adult breathing pattern showed that the delivery efficiency of the breath-actuated nebuliser was more than twice that of the continuous-output nebuliser, reaching 88% and presenting a much lower residual mass. As aerosol was generated during inhalation only with breath actuation, the treatment time of the breath-actuated nebuliser was longer when loading the same volume of medication in both devices, as it was foreseeable. The novel breath-actuated nebuliser presented in this study was shown to provide a promising performance for its use in drug-device combination products that may require high delivery efficiency, adequate aerosol characterisation for lung deposition, and low residual mass to treat diseases by delivering drugs directly into the respiratory system.

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