Nasal Deposition in Infants and Children

Abstract Background: The variability of particle deposition in infant and child nasal airways is significant due to the airway geometry and breathing rate. Estimation of particle deposition in the nasal airway of this age group is necessary, especially for inhalation drug delivery application. Previous studies on nasal aerosol deposition were focused mostly on adult. A few empirical equations were also developed to calculate nasal deposition in different age groups of children. However, those studies have their limitations. The aim of this study is to find a simple way to calculate the nasal aerosol deposition in all age groups. Methods: An in vitro test of micrometer particle deposition in nasal airways for three different ages of infants and children is conducted. An adult nasal replica is also studied as a comparison. Monodisperse oleic acid aerosols ranging in size between 2 and 28 μm are delivered into the replica at the rest condition. This size range covers the deposition efficiency up to around 10...