3M's Intelligent Control Inhaler wins Excellence in Drug Delivery Devices Award at CPhI

This is fantastic news for 3M, and in my opinion thoroughly deserved...

There's so much talk these days about "smart" and "intelligent" inhalers - when in reality, they're nothing more than clever monitoring devices for dumb inhaler products that are difficult to use correctly and usually produce very variable results in vivo.

The 3M Intelligent Control Inhaler (ICI) device is however, really smart. I was lucky enough to see this device at the RDD conference earlier this year, and get to play with it. This inhaler addresses the two major adherence issues with standard pMDIs - variability in the inspiratory flowrate, and difficulty in correctly coordinating the actuation of the device. The new 3M inhaler measures inspiratory flowrate and dynamically controls the airflow resistance - if you inhale too forcefully, the airflow resistance increases, forcing you to slow down. With a little practice, you soon inhale at the optimum (low) flowrate to maximise delivery efficacy. Additionally, it automatically fires the medication at exactly the right time-point during the inspiratory manoeuvre, ensuring that there is plenty of "chase" air to drive the aerosol down into the deep lung. There's also a display screen on the front that prompts the user to shake the device prior to use, and to hold their breath after inhaling.

So well done to 3M - this really is a smart inhaler.