Abstract
The Discrete Element Method (DEM) was used to investigate the micromechanics of adhesive units, the building blocks of adhesive mixtures, comprising a carrier particle with attached micronised fine particles. Binary head-on collisions between adhesive units was performed in the handling and dispersion velocity regimes, with variations in carrier mechanical properties (mannitol or lactose) and size (50, 100, 200 μm). The system was modeled with spherical particles with interactions represented by Hertz-Mindlin and Johnson-Kendall-Roberts contact models. The results were analysed in terms of stability ratios (retention, loss and transfer) and mechanical properties (restitution coefficient). It was observed that mannitol particles are more stable than lactose with similar dispersion performance and that the 200 μm carrier is the most stable among the particles investigated. The results provide a parametric knowledge about the performance of carrier particles and could be used for development of macro models for particle engineering and optimization of formulations.
Highlights
Pulmonary drug delivery is becoming an important aspect of local and systemic drug delivery [1] owing to its targeted action and release
Adhesive mixtures consist of micronised particles (< 5 μm aerodynamic diameter) attached to considerably larger carrier particles (50 μm – 300 μm) forming adhesive units
It could be observed that the LL system shows a higher dispersion of fines than the LM system for the same surface coverage ratios (SCRs), surface energy of interaction and collision velocity
Summary
Pulmonary drug delivery is becoming an important aspect of local and systemic drug delivery [1] owing to its targeted action and release. Drug delivery through dry powder inhalers (DPIs) provides a varied set of advantages over traditional inhalers [2]. DPIs use a special kind of ordered mixture known as adhesive mixture [3,4]. Adhesive mixtures consist of micronised particles (< 5 μm aerodynamic diameter) attached to considerably larger carrier particles (50 μm – 300 μm) forming adhesive units. The fine particles being smaller in size have a high surface to volume ratio and are highly cohesive in nature. In order to prevent agglomeration and to improve powder flowability, adhesive units with carrier particles are formed
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