Targeted Respiratory Drug Delivery by Tribo Charged Sprays

The main purpose of this proposal is to develop a radically new technology for very precisely delivering medicine to the human body. Targeted deposition of drug formulations to the lungs exhibits great promise in several treatments, e.g. siRNA treatment against lung cancer or mRNA vaccination against COVID-19. This requires oral and nasal inhalation for which spray pumps and nebulizers are widely used to transform an aqueous formulation into a soft mist spray. However producing the necessary drop size is hampered by droplet coalescence, making drops too large and polydisperse; because of this, they deposit in the wrong places. Large droplets between 10 and 50 micrometers deposit mostly in the upper respiratory tract (mouth, throat or nasal cavity) through ballistic impact on the mucosal tissue, whereas small droplets between 5 and 10 micrometers can be lifted by the airstreams and deposit mostly in the lower respiratory tract (bronchi and lungs). Our innovation relies on the charging of drops through the friction with the nozzle material. The charged drops repel and do not coalesce, allowing precise control of their size to target e.g. the lungs. This allows to achieve safe and effective targeted deposition of drugs and /or vaccines with hitherto unequaled precision.