Nebulizer

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Nebulizer

In medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, a nebulizer is a device used to administer medication to people in the form of a mist inhaled into the lungs. It is commonly used in treating cystic fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis is a Genetic disorder affecting the exocrine glands of the lungs, liver, pancreas, and intestines, causing progressive disability due to multisystem failure....
, asthma

Asthma

Asthma is a common chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, in which the Lung constrict, become inflammation, and are lined with excessive amounts of thickened mucus, often in response to one or more triggers....
, and other respiratory disease

Respiratory disease

Respiratory Disease is the term for diseases of the respiratory system. These include diseases of the lung, pleural cavity, bronchial tubes, trachea, upper respiratory tract and of the nerves and muscles of breathing....
s.

There are different types of nebulizer, although the most common are the jet nebulizers, which are also called "atomizers".

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In medicine

Medicine

Cystic fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis is a Genetic disorder affecting the exocrine glands of the lungs, liver, pancreas, and intestines, causing progressive disability due to multisystem failure....
, asthma

Asthma

Respiratory disease

Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
to blast at high velocity through a liquid medicine to turn it into an aerosol

Aerosol

Technically, an aerosol is a suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in a gas. Examples are smoke, oceanic haze, air pollution, smog and CS gas....
, which is then inhaled by the patient.

As a general rule, doctors most commonly prescribe metered-dose inhalers for their patients, largely because these are more convenient and portable than nebulizers. However, jet nebulizers are commonly used in hospital settings for patients who have difficulty using inhalers, such as in serious cases of respiratory disease, or severe asthma attacks.

Newer, compact electronic nebulizers are also available. These nebulizers, such as the Pari eFlow, the Resironics i-Neb, the Omron

OMRON

is a Japan electronics company based in Kyoto, Kyoto.Omron was established by Kazuma Tateishi in 1933 and incorporated in 1948. Omron's primary business is the manufacture and sale of automation components, equipment and systems, but it is generally known for medical equipment such as digital medical thermometers, sphygmomanometers and nebuli...
MicroAir series, and the Aerogen Aeroneb, use vibration of membranes or meshes to produce the aerosol and are more portable since they do not need the compressed air source that accompanies jet nebulizers. However, electronic nebulizers are more expensive. Piezoelectric

Piezoelectricity

Piezoelectricity is the ability of some materials to generate an electric potential in response to applied mechanical Stress . This may Piezoelectricity#Crystal classes of a separation of electric charge across the crystal lattice....
nebulizers are used in electronic cigarettes.

Use and attachments

Nebulizers accept their medicine in the form of a liquid

Liquid

Liquid is one of the principal states of matter. A liquid is a fluid that has the particles loose and can freely form a distinct surface at the boundaries of its bulk material....
solution, which is often loaded into the device upon use. Bronchodilator

Bronchodilator

A bronchodilator is a substance that Wiktionary:dilate#Verb the Bronchus and bronchioles, decreasing airway resistance and thereby facilitating airflow....
s such as salbutamol

Salbutamol

Salbutamol or albuterol is a short-acting beta2-adrenergic receptor agonist used for the relief of bronchospasm in conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease....
(albuterol USAN

United States Adopted Name

United States Adopted Names are unique nonproprietary names assigned to pharmaceuticals marketed in the United States. Each name is assigned by the USAN Council, which is co-sponsored by the American Medical Association , the United States Pharmacopeial Convention , and the American Pharmacists Association ....
) are often used and sometimes additionally ipratropium

Ipratropium

Ipratropium is an anticholinergic drug....
. Corticosteroids are also used. The reason they are inhaled instead of ingested is usually to target their effect to the respiratory tract

Respiratory tract

In humans the respiratory tract is the part of the anatomy that has to do with the process of Respiration .The respiratory tract is divided into 3 segments:...
, which speeds onset of action of the medicine and reduces side effects compared to when these medicines are delivered by other routes².

Usually, the aerosolized medicine is inhaled through a tube-like mouthpiece, similar to that of an inhaler

Inhaler

An inhaler or puffer is a medical device used for delivering medication into the body via the lungs. It is mainly used in the treatment of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ....
. The mouthpiece, however, is sometimes replaced with a face mask, similar to that used for inhaled anaesthesia, for ease of use with young children or the elderly, although mouthpieces are preferable if patients are able to use them since facemasks result in reduced lung delivery because of aerosol losses in the nose¹.

After use with corticosteroids, it is theoretically possible for patients to develop a yeast

Yeast

Yeasts are eukaryote microorganisms classified in the Kingdom fungus, with about 1,500 species currently described; they dominate fungal diversity in the oceans....
infection in the mouth (thrush

Oral candidiasis

Oral candidiasis is an infection of yeast fungi of the genus Candida on the mucous membranes of the mouth. It is frequently caused by Candida albicans, or less commonly by Candida glabrata or Candida tropicalis....
) or hoarseness of voice (dysphonia

Dysphonia

Dysphonia is the medical term for hoarseness or other phonation disorders. It is considered much less severe than aphonia. Recently, medical science has studied the effects of osculation and the human saliva on hoarseness....
), although these conditions are clinically very rare. To avoid these adverse effects, some clinicians suggest that the person who used the nebulizer should rinse his or her mouth. This is not true for bronchodilators; however, patients may still wish to rinse their mouths due to the unpleasant taste of some bronchodilating drugs.

Nebulizer

Use and attachments

See also