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Abstract

An apparatus for interactive training of a patient in the use of an aerosol inhaler includes a feedback display based upon air flow versus volume data in order to train patients to use a proper sequence of inhalation steps to insure maximum delivery of an aerosol pharmaceutical to target sites in the lungs. Flow and volume data are displayed to provide the patient and physician with a real-time, interactive representation of the inhalation process. Visual feedback to the patient includes a portrayal of the lungs which may be either three dimensional or an outline form in addition to or instead of an X-Y display. An important element of visual feedback is the portrayal of the distribution of representative droplets of aerosol medication in various stages of inhalation and breath holding. Thus, the patient is provided with meaningful feedback representative of the actual distribution of aerosol medication. The real-time representation of the delivery of medication to the lungs enables a patient to derive a maximum therapeutic benefit from pharmaceuticals which are administered through inhalation. The improved feedback also enables a patient to learn proper inhalation techniques which enable therapeutic agents to be such as aerosol glucocorticoids to be delivered directly to target sites in the lungs thereby bypassing the digestive system and obviating adverse side effects. The improved visual feedback to the patient representing the actual distribution of inhaled aerosol in the lungs conveys a conceptual understanding of the proper inhalation process and greatly increases the likelihood that a patient will learn and retain the correct inhalation technique.

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