US 12,434,020 B2
Mist inhaler devices for delivering medical drugs
Mohammed Alshaiba Saleh Ghannam Almazrouei, Abu Dhabi (AE); Sajid Bhatti, Abu Dhabi (AE); Jeff Machovec, Abu Dhabi (AE); Clement Lamoureux, Abu Dhabi (AE); and Imad Lahoud, Abu Dhabi (AE)
Assigned to Shaheen Innovations Holding Limited, Abu Dhabi (AE)
Filed by SHAHEEN INNOVATIONS HOLDING LIMITED, Abu Dhabi (AE)
Filed on Mar. 19, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/609,789.
Application 18/139,272 is a division of application No. 17/837,995, filed on Jun. 10, 2022, granted, now 11,744,963, issued on Sep. 5, 2023.
Application 18/609,789 is a continuation of application No. 18/139,272, filed on Apr. 25, 2023, granted, now 12,023,438.
Application 17/837,995 is a continuation of application No. 17/122,025, filed on Dec. 15, 2020, granted, now 11,672,928, issued on Jun. 13, 2023.
Application 17/122,025 is a continuation in part of application No. PCT/IB2019/060812, filed on Dec. 15, 2019.
Application 17/122,025 is a continuation in part of application No. PCT/IB2019/060810, filed on Dec. 15, 2019.
Application 17/122,025 is a continuation in part of application No. PCT/IB2019/060811, filed on Dec. 15, 2019.
Application 17/122,025 is a continuation in part of application No. PCT/IB2019/060808, filed on Dec. 15, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 20168231 (EP), filed on Apr. 6, 2020; application No. 20168245 (EP), filed on Apr. 6, 2020; and application No. 20168938 (EP), filed on Apr. 9, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0269401 A1, Aug. 15, 2024
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61M 15/00 (2006.01); A24B 15/167 (2020.01); A24F 40/05 (2020.01); A24F 40/10 (2020.01); A24F 40/44 (2020.01); A24F 40/48 (2020.01); A24F 40/50 (2020.01); A24F 40/51 (2020.01); A24F 40/53 (2020.01); A24F 40/65 (2020.01); A61M 11/00 (2006.01); A61M 15/06 (2006.01); B05B 17/00 (2006.01); B05B 17/06 (2006.01)
CPC A61M 15/0085 (2013.01) [A24B 15/167 (2016.11); A24F 40/05 (2020.01); A24F 40/10 (2020.01); A24F 40/44 (2020.01); A24F 40/48 (2020.01); A24F 40/50 (2020.01); A24F 40/51 (2020.01); A24F 40/53 (2020.01); A24F 40/65 (2020.01); A61M 11/005 (2013.01); A61M 15/06 (2013.01); B05B 17/063 (2013.01); B05B 17/0661 (2013.01); B05B 17/0669 (2013.01); B05B 17/0684 (2013.01); A61M 15/0021 (2014.02); A61M 15/0081 (2014.02); A61M 2205/0294 (2013.01); A61M 2205/276 (2013.01); A61M 2205/3331 (2013.01); A61M 2205/3592 (2013.01); A61M 2205/50 (2013.01); A61M 2205/52 (2013.01); A61M 2205/60 (2013.01); A61M 2205/8206 (2013.01); A61M 2205/8212 (2013.01); A61M 2205/8237 (2013.01); A61M 2230/40 (2013.01); B05B 17/0646 (2013.01); B06B 2201/77 (2013.01)] 35 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A mist inhaler device for delivering medical drugs, the device comprising:
a liquid to be atomized, the liquid including a medical drug of the medical drugs;
an ultrasonic transducer to atomize the liquid to generate a mist comprising the atomized liquid;
a housing for housing the ultrasonic transducer, the housing comprising an air inlet port and a mist outlet port of a mouthpiece;
an AC driver for generating an AC drive signal at a frequency to drive the ultrasonic transducer;
an active power monitor for monitoring the active power used by the ultrasonic transducer when the ultrasonic transducer is driven by the AC drive signal, wherein the active power monitor provides a monitoring signal which is indicative of the active power used by the ultrasonic transducer;
a processor for controlling the AC driver and for receiving the monitoring signal from the active power monitor; and
a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
A) control the AC driver to output an AC drive signal to the ultrasonic transducer at a predetermined sweep frequency;
B) calculate the active power being used by the ultrasonic transducer based on the monitoring signal;
C) control the AC driver to modulate the AC drive signal to maximise the active power being used by the ultrasonic transducer;
D) store a record in the memory of the maximum active power used by the ultrasonic transducer and the sweep frequency of the AC drive signal;
E) repeat steps A-D for a predetermined number of iterations with the sweep frequency varying with each iteration such that, after the predetermined number of iterations has occurred, the sweep frequency has been varied between a start sweep frequency to an end sweep frequency;
F) identify from the records stored in the memory an optimum frequency for the AC drive signal which is the sweep frequency of the AC drive signal at which a maximum active power is used by the ultrasonic transducer; and
G) control the AC driver to output the AC drive signal to the ultrasonic transducer at the optimum frequency to drive the ultrasonic transducer to atomize the liquid.