Aerodynamic particle size distributions of pharmaceutical aerosols are important for determining

the inhaled dose from medical inhalers and nebulizers as well as the drug's spatial distribution
within the lungs upon deposition. For such reason, an accurate characterization of aerodynamic
size distributions is essential in the development, approval and validation of inhaled drug
formulations and inhalation devices

To date, cascade impactor (CI) analysis is the only approved method for aerodynamic particle
sizing from inhalers and nebulizers. Yet, such state-of-the-art measurements are relatively time
consuming, expensive, and prone to many sources of variability (Hickey and Swift, 2011), which
may lead to ~30% difference in the measured mass median aerodynamic diameter

In this work, They report a simple and fast method for the quantitative characterization of
aerodynamic particle size distributions of pharmaceutical aerosols based on direct time-resolved
observation of particle settling velocities similar to particle tracking velocimetry (PTV). Namely, the
measurement of a particle's settling velocity allows an accurate estimation of its aerodynamic
diameter since the aerodynamic diameter is defined as the diameter of a sphere with a density of
1000 kg/m3 having the same settling velocity as the measured particle. In contrast to previous
efforts which include sedimentation cells

Prototype design

1. Induction port
2. Flow chamber
3. Measurement procedure
4. Image processing and análisis
5. Calculation of aerodynamic diameter distributions

Prototype of the measurement device. Schematic illustration of (a) the particle sizer setup, (b) a
front view of the flow chamber and (c) details of the flow control unit

In a proof-of-concept study, They have obtained aerodynamic particle size distributions from
various widely-available commercial DPIs using a simple flow device and computer-vision based
analysis of settling velocities Specifically, it features high throughput and precise measurement of
particle aerodynamic diameters similarly to ToF análisis
The settling curve is commonly used for studying the sedimentation process of a suspension. This
paper introduces a mathematical equation (S-model) to simulate the settling curve of a suspension
and offers new approaches to calculate the settling velocity, solid volume fraction, and flocs size of
suspended particles in dilute range during sedimentation. The proposed S-model also enhanced
the representation of the hindered settling and consolidation portions of a settling curve through
the introduction of two model parameters that controlling the deflection points of the
sedimentation and consolidation. In addition, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation was
conducted which indicated that the proposed S-model is a robust tool in modeling and
characterizing the sedimentation behaviors of batch sedimentation. The findings from this
research may provide new approach in modeling the sedimentation behavior of clay suspensions
and bring broad impacts to engineering applications, such as biological secondary treatment
process, mineral processing, water purification, sedimentation, soil modification, and ground
improvement.