2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
Enhancement of Aerosol Pulmonary Drug By Employing Surfactants
More than 34 million Americans suffer from chronic lung diseases. However, current treatment of pulmonary drug delivery heavily relies on aerodynamics. This is far from an ideal treatment, because inhaled aerosols follow the path of least resistance through the airways, and these paths are subject to change by flow direction. Thus, there is an increase in aerosol deposition in proximal airways, leaving a substantial portion of downstream lung regions untreated. These untreated areas lead to persistence of bacterial infections as well as antibiotic resistance. Hence, there is an urgent need to address the issue of ineffective treatment. The aim of this project is to find corroborating data that can confirm that surfactants enhance the spread of a drug in the lungs. Results from initial experiments have suggested that surfactants can enhance the spread of the drug. What is more remarkable is that the surfactant-containing drops do not just merge upon contact but go through a series of deformation patterns that are consistent with drop size. It has been observed that ridges form even before the gap between the drops close and that the bigger drops get deformed more. In addition, talc particles were used to study the field flow of the spreading of the drops. An image from the experimental data is attached to this abstract. Investigating the interaction of multiple surfactant-containing drops is important for it could pave ways for an enhanced spreading of the drug and thus an advanced treatment.
