Swiss medical weekly
-
Aerosol therapy plays a major role in the diagnosis and treatment of various lung diseases. The aim of inhalation therapy is to deposit a reproducible and adequate dose of a specific drug to the airways, in order to achieve a high, local, clinical effect while avoiding serious systemic side effects. To achieve this goal, it is therefore important to have an efficient inhalation device to deliver different medications. ⋯ These parameters may be greatly influenced by the patient's acceptance of a specific inhalation device and therefore determine the choice of the device used. It is important for the clinical impact to develop more efficient inhalation devices, which need to be assessed for use in different age groups. These devices should be cheap, easy to use, portable, usable with all medications and environmentally safe.