Performance and Feasibility of Therapeutic Vibrating Mesh Nebulizer for Ventilation Lung Scan

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PurposeThis study aimed to evaluate the performance of a therapeutic vibrating mesh-type nebulizer for the pulmonary delivery of radioaerosols for lung scintigraphy in healthy subjects.MethodsSix healthy subjects (mean age of 28.7 ± 6.2 years) inhaled 2 mL Tc-99m diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid and normal saline solution (20 mCi) via a therapeutic vibrating mesh-type nebulizer (DK010, DELBio, Taipei, Taiwan). The nebulizer’s mass median aerodynamic diameter was between 2.3 and 5.0 µm (3.47 ± 0.37 µm), and the nebulization rate was greater than 0.2 mL/min. Scintigraphy was performed to count radioaerosols in the regions of interest to determine the total and regional lung deposition and extrathoracic airway deposition of aerosols, penetration of aerosols, and radioactivity count balance (RCB).ResultsThe total lung depositions of aerosols were 21.2% ± 5.2% (% ex-valve dose), 27.4% ± 8.0% (% ex-device dose), and 13.8% ± 4.1% (% initial dose) in the nebulizer. The extrathoracic airway deposition was 4.8% ± 1.1%. The RCB was 5.4% ± 3.0%. The ratio of outer over inner lung deposition (O/I ratio, or penetration index) was 1.89 ± 0.55.ConclusionThe delivery efficiency and penetration of aerosols to the peripheral lung, which were achieved by the DELBio DK010 vibrating mesh-type nebulizer, were similar to the commercialized jet-type nebulizers dedicated for radioaerosol lung scintigraphy nebulizer. The therapeutic vibrating mesh-type nebulizer (DELBio DK010) is feasible for radionuclide lung ventilation scintigraphy.