A NOVEL BREATH-ACTUATED DEVICE (AUTOHALER(TM)) CONSISTENTLY ACTUATES DURING THE EARLY PHASE OF INSPIRATION

Objective To establish and quantify the point during inspiration that the Autohaler((TM)) (AH) inhalation system releases a metered dose of aerosol (placebo). The sound objective was to determine if the Autohal er system actuates consistently, regardless of the canister life. Desi gn Double-blind, randomized, two-period crossover, one-day trial. Sett ing Community based allergy and asthma clinic. Participants Twelve pat ients with mild to moderate asthma. Results Mean verbal training time for the AH which included the patient demonstrating their ability to c orrectly use the AH was approximately 6 minutes. The mean time for act uation for the AH early in its canister life(''new canister'') was 195 msec compared to 205 msec for the AH late in its canister life (''old canister'') (p=0.589). This represented the early part of inspiration as patients had a mean inspiratory duration of 2231 msec for the ''ne w'' AH and 2343 msec for the ''old'' AH. The mean percentage of inspir ation time required to actuate the ''new'' AH was 8.92% compared to 8. 82% for the ''old'' AH. Patients rated the system as easier to much ea sier to use compared with their current standard press and breathe inh aler. Conclusions The AH consistently actuates early during inspiratio n, which is considered the optimal time for drug delivery, regardless of the canister life.