A revolutionary way to deliver aerosols directly to the lungs

Penn-Century, Inc. designs and manufactures the only commercially available devices for intratracheal delivery of liquid aerosols and dry powders directly into the lungs. Our small, portable, hand-operated devices do not depend upon heat, ultrasound, electricity, compressed air, chemical propellant or other energy source. They permit the safe administration of highly quantifiable dosages in aerosol form. More than 50 published accounts of biomedical research have appeared in the scientific literature citing Penn-Century MicroSprayers^® and Dry Powder Insufflators™ in a broad range of applications.

Enhanced safety and efficacy of intrapulmonary drug delivery of aerosols

Our devices are small enough to be inserted deep into the trachea, and are capable of generating an aerosol of sufficiently minute particles to disperse deep into the lungs. The close proximity of the sprayer tip to critical pulmonary target sites produces a much deeper, safer and more uniform distribution than is possible with instillation of a liquid bolus, and a far more concentrated dose than can be obtained through inhalation of nebulized liquid or dry powder aerosols.

Our products include the MicroSprayer^®, our unique, patented atomizer that generates a plume of liquid aerosol (MMD of 16-22 µm) from the tip of a long, thin, stainless steel tube. It is available in a range of lengths and sizes, some as narrow as .64 mm in a diameter (23 gauge.) Our Dry Powder Insufflators™ produce a puff of fine particles capable of penetrating deep into the lung.

The advantages of direct administration of drugs to the lungs

New medications and therapies that target the lungs hold great promise for overcoming some of the most treatment-resistant pulmonary diseases, as well as other systemic disorders. Many therapeutic substances readily lend themselves to pulmonary administration, including antibiotics, bronchodilators, anti-inflammatory steroids, antiproteases, polypeptides, surfactant and gene transfer products.

The search for effective methods of pulmonary drug delivery

Researchers have long known how difficult it is to deliver a therapeutically significant dose of liquid material directly to the lung.

• Typically, only a fraction of inhaled aerosol reaches the lungs. Devices designed for aerosol inhalation typically depend on compressed air, heat, CFC propellants or ultrasound. Much of the aerosol adheres to the nasal passages, mouth or throat, is swallowed or immediately exhaled, contaminating the environment and making quantification difficult. Only a small amount of the aerosolized material actually reaches the lungs and is absorbed, often resulting in the waste of costly drugs. Further, many substances do not nebulize well.
• Alternatively, delivery of medication to the lung in the form of a liquid bolus can cause significant stress in the subject and prevent uniform distribution throughout the lung. Instillation of drugs through a tube as a liquid bolus to the trachea of anesthetized subjects often causes significant distress, disruption of breathing patterns and even hypoxia. The drug is not uniformly dispersed into the lungs, and an unknown amount of the material may be coughed up or swallowed. Similar problems occur in preparing animal models of pulmonary disease.

Penn-Century, Inc. introduces a far more effective way to deliver aerosols directly to the lungs

Penn-Century, Inc. offers a safe, reliable alternative to these two methods of drug administration. We specialize in pulmonary drug delivery devices that make is possible to administer liquid and dry powder aerosols directly into the lungs.

We design and manufacture (MicroSprayers^®) for administering aerosolized liquids, as well as Dry Powder Insufflators™ and related devices. These small, portable, easy-to-use devices make possible the intratracheal and intrapulmonary administration of liquids and dry powders in aerosol form.

Extensive studies across a wide range of applications have demonstrated that these devices can safely deliver far greater concentrations of substances to the lung in aerosol form than is possible via inhalation, or tolerated via liquid instillation. What is more, intrapulmonary drug delivery minimizes environmental contamination from toxic substances.

How the MicroSprayer^® compares with other methods

• In studies using radio-labelled saline, delivery by MicroSprayer^® has been shown to result in lung deposition fractions of more than 93% in primates, while inhalation of jet-nebulized samples resulted in deposition of less than 2%. (Flotte & Laube, 2001)
• In rats, the MicroSprayer^® was found to be 4-1/2 - 5 times as effective as liquid bolus instillation in preparing animal models of pulmonary disease. (Selig, et al., 1996)
• In mice, in a comparison of the efficiency of transfection of gene therapy vectors, initial studies showed expression in 48% to 90% of cells when using the MicroSprayer^® vs. expression in 23% of cells by instillation of liquid droplets. (Institute for Human Gene Therapy, unpublished results)

The MicroSprayer^®

The MicroSprayer^® by Penn-Century, Inc. comes in two basic forms:

• Model IA-1C comes with a flexible delivery tube measuring only .64 millimeters in diameter. It is operated with a lightweight, portable, high-pressure, stainless steel syringe (FMJ-250) and delivers a plume of aerosol (MMD 16-22µm) directly into the lungs. The delivery tube is narrow enough to pass easily through the working channel of a bronchoscope or to be positioned in an endotracheal tube.
• Model IA-1B delivers a plume of liquid aerosol directly into the lungs in particle sizes with an MMD of 25-30mm. The device consists of a 19-gauge, stainless steel tube operated by a plastic syringe. Aerosol is generated by a unique, patented atomizer at the very tip of the tube, which measures only 1.5 mm in diameter. The delivery tube is available in any length or geometry. It is applicable for research use in any experimental animal except mice.

Dry Powder Insufflators™

Our Dry Powder Insufflator™ is an easy-to-use, hand-operated pulmonary drug delivery device designed to administer a cloud of particles directly to the lung.

• Model DP-4 Dry Powder Insufflator™ twists open at the center to reveal a chamber that can be filled manually with a small (1-5mg) sample of dry powder. By applying small "puffs" of air to the device using the small, plastic 3ml syringe included with it, it is possible to administer a range of dry powder substances to the lungs. The characteristics of the powder sample (particle size, etc.) are essentially unaffected by passage through the device. Made of PEEK™ (polyetheretherketone) plastic, the DP-4 is virtually indestructible chemically and is unaffected by temperatures normally encountered in heat sterilization procedures. In addition, being lightweight, the device permits highly quantifiable gravimetric determination of the amount of sample that actually reaches the lungs. Because the tip of the DP-4 Dry Powder Insufflator™ delivery tube can be positioned near the carina (first bifurcation), and the device exerts a slight insufflating effect, a precisely measured dose of dry powder can penetrate deep into the lung.

Click here to learn more about our products.