Liquid drug cartridges and associated dispenser

Abstract

Liquid drug cartridges and an associated inhaler are used to deliver one more separate doses of an aerosolized liquid drug. A cartridge includes a container for storing the liquid drug, an end cap having an ejection opening, a filter element, and a piston that is repositionable relative to the container to selectively eject a volume of liquid drug from the ejection opening. The filter element filters the liquid drug prior to ejection from the ejection opening. The liquid drug cartridge can be coupled with an inhaler that includes an aerosol generator. The aerosol generator includes a vibratable membrane onto which the liquid drug is ejected. The liquid drug is aerosolized by the vibration of the membrane for inhalation by a user.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system, comprising:
 inserting a self-puncturing drug cartridge into an inhaler to move the self-puncturing drug cartridge from a first configuration in which a hollow needle does not extend through a septum that seals a reservoir of liquid medicament to a second configuration in which the hollow needle extends through the septum to establish a fluid path from the reservoir to an aerosol generator; 
 detecting an inhalation by a user using an inhalation monitoring system; 
 in response to detecting the inhalation, displacing a piston that is positioned at a distal end of the reservoir to force a volume of the liquid medicament from the reservoir; 
 ejecting the volume of the liquid medicament onto a rear face of a mesh of the aerosol generator via an exit end of the hollow needle; 
 vibrating the mesh of the aerosol generator to aerosolize the volume of the liquid medicament to produce a plume of aerosolized medicament; and 
 entraining the aerosolized medicament within inspiratory flow through a mouthpiece of the inhaler. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 2 , wherein:
 an inlet end of the hollow needle is sharpened and punctures the septum as the self-puncturing drug cartridge is moved to the second configuration; and 
 the exit end of the hollow needle is unsharpened. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 2 , wherein:
 inserting the self-puncturing drug cartridge into the inhaler comprises sliding the self-puncturing drug cartridge into the inhaler until a guide element of the self-puncturing drug cartridge contacts a shelf of the inhaler and causes an inlet end of the hollow needle to puncture the septum. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the shelf is positioned such that when the guide element contacts the shelf an exit end of the hollow needle is spaced close enough to the mesh that surface tension of the liquid medicament causes the liquid medicament to adhere to the mesh even when the inhaler is in a horizontal orientation. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 4 , wherein:
 once the guide element contacts the shelf, a spring is compressed that forces the inlet end of the hollow needle through the septum. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 removing a protective cap from the self-puncturing drug cartridge to expose the exit end of the hollow needle prior to inserting the self-puncturing drug cartridge into the inhaler. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the protective cap prevents the self-puncturing drug cartridge from being inserted into the inhaler. 
 
     
     
         9 . A method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system, comprising:
 inserting a self-puncturing drug cartridge into an inhaler to move the self-puncturing drug cartridge from a first configuration in which a hollow needle does not extend through a septum that seals a reservoir of liquid medicament to a second configuration in which the hollow needle extends through the septum to establish a fluid path from the reservoir to an aerosol generator; 
 ejecting a volume of the liquid medicament onto a rear face of a mesh of the aerosol generator via an exit end of the hollow needle; 
 vibrating the mesh of the aerosol generator to aerosolize the volume of the liquid medicament to produce a plume of aerosolized medicament; and 
 entraining the aerosolized medicament within inspiratory flow through a mouthpiece of the inhaler. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 filtering the volume of the liquid medicament prior to ejecting the volume of the liquid medicament using a filter element positioned on a proximal end of the reservoir. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 detecting an inhalation by a user using an inhalation monitoring system; 
 communicating a signal to a piston actuation system, the signal indicating that the inhalation has been detected; and 
 in response to receiving the signal, displacing, using the piston actuation system, a piston that is positioned at a distal end of the reservoir to force the volume of the liquid medicament from the reservoir. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the inhaler comprises:
 a mixing chamber in fluid communication with a front face of the mesh and the mouthpiece; and 
 one or more air inlets in fluid communication with the mixing chamber and configured to inlet air into the mixing chamber in response to a user inhaling via the mouthpiece. 
 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 12 , wherein:
 air flowing through the mixing chamber in response to the user inhaling via the mouthpiece is laminar and surrounds a dosage of the drug aerosolized via the mesh so as to inhibit contact between the aerosolized medicament and surrounding surfaces of the mixing chamber. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the self-puncturing drug cartridge comprises a guide element that guides movement of the hollow needle relative to the inhaler during reconfiguration from the first configuration to the second configuration; and 
 the exit end of the hollow needle protrudes from an end surface of the guide element by a controlled distance. 
 
     
     
         15 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 9 , wherein:
 an inlet end of the hollow needle is sharpened and the exit end of the hollow needle is unsharpened. 
 
     
     
         16 . A method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system, comprising:
 sensing an inhalation of a patient at a mouthpiece of an inhaler; 
 displacing a piston that is positioned at a distal end of a reservoir of a cartridge to force a volume of a liquid medicament from the reservoir of the cartridge based on the sensed inhalation; 
 introducing the volume of the liquid medicament into an inlet end of a hollow needle that extends through a septum to establish a fluid path from the reservoir, wherein the septum seals an end of the reservoir; 
 ejecting the volume of the liquid medicament onto a rear face of a mesh of an aerosol generator via an exit end of the hollow needle based on the sensed inhalation; 
 vibrating the mesh of the aerosol generator to aerosolize the volume of the liquid medicament to produce a plume of aerosolized medicament based on the sensed inhalation such that the volume of the liquid medicament is aerosolized concurrently with the sensed inhalation; and 
 entraining the aerosolized medicament within inspiratory flow through the mouthpiece of the inhaler. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the reservoir contains a plurality of doses of the liquid medicament and the liquid medicament is deliverable from the reservoir in a plurality of individual doses. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 a size of each of the volume of the liquid medicament is set via an external control. 
 
     
     
         19 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 a housing of the inhaler comprises a restrictor array through which air is introduced for combination with the aerosolized medicament. 
 
     
     
         20 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the hollow needle comprises an antimicrobial coating. 
 
     
     
         21 . The method of delivering an aerosolized medication to a user’s respiratory system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 vibration of the mesh creates a pumping action that pulls the liquid medicament from the hollow needle and through the mesh.