A comprehensive suite of Copley Scientific inhaler testing equipment has been installed at the University of Huddersfield in the UK, which launches its new pharmacy course in October 2008
The course will be led by Professor Henry Chrystyn (formerly University of Bradford), the Head of Pharmacy, who is a respected figure in the field of pulmonary studies.
This development will position Huddersfield as the leading university for inhalation technology in the north of England.
Copley has supplied a range of equipment used for the routine testing of nebulisers, dry powder inhalers (DPIs) and metered dose inhalers (MDIs).
Included in the package is delivered dose sampling apparatus, cascade impactors required for aerodynamic particle size measurement, and associated pumps and flow control components.
Professor Chrystyn has already highlighted two areas of research for the department.
One is comparing the performance of the Next Generation Pharmaceutical Impactor (NGI) and the Marple 298X impactor, under the specific conditions required for nebuliser characterisation.
Recent regulatory changes promote the use of the NGI for nebulisers, which traditionally have been tested using the Marple 298X.
The second area of research is low and variable flow rate testing, which will be investigated using the mixing inlets supplied by Copley.
These devices allow a steady flow to be drawn through the cascade impactor, at the required flow rate, while a breathing profile or low flow is applied to the device.
Nebuliser operation and DPI behaviour at low flows will both be investigated.