Ultrasonic nebulizer

Claim 2

An ultrasonic nebulizer for atomizing a liquid medicament comprising in combination: A. a porous solid body having a defined intercommunicating pore structure adapted to receive said liquid medicament, pass said liquid medicament through its pores and discharge said liquid medicament through one of its ends, the diameters of at least 75 percent of the pore openings in said one end being in the range of from 0.5 to 5 microns; B. means for supplying said liquid medicament to said porous body; and C. means for vibrating said porous body comprising: a. an electronic signal generator; b. a transducer operatively connected to said generator; and c. an antennuator horn interconnecting the transducer and porous solid body, whereby the porous body is vibrated causing the liquid medicament to discharge from said one end as an aerosol, the sizes of the particles thereof being directly proportional to the diameters of said pore openings.

Claim 3

The nebulizer according to claim 1 wherein at least 85 percent of said diameters are in said range.

Claim 4

The nebulizer according to claim 1 wherein the sizes of said particles are essentially twice the diameters of said pore openings.

Claim 5

The nebulizer according to claim 1 wherein the porous body comprises an internal macroporous layer which permits facile passage of said liquid medicament and an outer porous layer whose exterior surface defines said one end.

Claim 6

The nebulizer according to claim 1, said nebulizer being adapted to atomize the liquid medicament for inhalation by a patient and including: D. a mouthpiece for transferring the atomized liquid medicament from said one end of the porous body to the mouth of the patient, one end of which communicates with said one end of the porous body and the other end of which is adapted to be received within the mouth of the patient.

Claim 7

An ultrasonic nebulizer for atomizing a liquid according to claim 1 wherein the means for supplying liquid to the pores of the porous solid body comprises means for supplying liquid under pressure to a bore in the antennuator horn, which bore communicates with the pores of the porous solid body.

Claim 8

An ultrasonic nebulizer for atomizing a liquid medicament for inhalation by a patient comprising in combination, a cylindrical antennuator horn having a large diameter end and distal therefrom a small diameter end and a passageway extending from the small diameter end coaxially through the horn to an external opening; a porous solid body having external pores of diameter of from 0.5 microns to 5 microns affixed to the small diameter end of the antennuator horn, and having a defined intercommunicating pore structure in communication wiTh the passageway; liquid supply means for supplying the liquid medicament to the external opening of the passageway; vibrating means for vibrating the cylindrical antennuator horn and affixed porous solid body at a frequency of from about 15 Khz to about 100 Khz; and a mouthpiece one end of which communicates with said external pores and the other end of which is adapted to be received within the mouth of the patient.

Claim 9

An ultrasonic nebulizer for atomizing a liquid medicament for inhalation by a patient comprising in combination, a cylindrical antennuator horn having a large diameter end and distal therefrom a small diameter end and a passageway extending from the small diameter end coaxially through the horn to an external opening; a porous solid body having external pores of diameter of from 0.5 microns to 5 microns affixed to the small diameter end of the antennuator horn, and having a defined intercommunicating pore structure in communication wiTh the passageway; liquid supply means for supplying the liquid medicament to the external opening of the passageway; vibrating means for vibrating the cylindrical antennuator horn and affixed porous solid body at a frequency of from about 15 Khz to about 100 Khz; and a mouthpiece one end of which communicates with said external pores and the other end of which is adapted to be received within the mouth of the patient.

Claim 10

An ultrasonic nebulizer according to claim 7 including an inspiration responsive detector positioned within the airstream in said mouthpiece and operatively interconnected with said liquid supply means and said vibrating means, said detector being adapted to activate the liquid supply means and vibrating means in response to physical changes it detects within said airstream.