DISC-Filler: Novel Dosing System to Fill Dry Powder Inhaler Discs

Many multi-unit dose dry powder inhalers (DPI) on the market or in development contain injection-molded annular dose carrier, which carry the single powder doses in closed cavities. These pockets can be round or oblong shaped and may be arranged in symmetric or asymmetric circles or even spirals.

Current micro dosing systems like dosator, vacuum drum or membrane filler, which are suited to dose powders for inhalation, possess significant limitations when being used to fill inhaler discs, like insufficient robustness, inadequate output or limited flexibility regarding the filling level.

Starting from Harro Höfliger’s membrane filling technology a new dosing system to fill such discs has been developed. Discs with any number or shape of cavities can be filled in one process cycle, and only two format parts have to be exchanged to adapt the filler to new discs. The system can be integrated into automated machines to fill, assemble and package disc-based DPI and it can be up-scaled by simply increasing the number of filling heads. The system has been developed for inhaler discs, but is not limited to this application. It may be used for other micro-dosing tasks, too, e.g. in the field of diagnostics, serial analysis or laboratory automation.

Your Benefits:

• Fast and simultaneous filling of multiple cavities with small powder portions
• Accurate micro-dosing of various powders, from free-flowing to very cohesive, even in the range below 10mg
• Higher output compared to existing Technologies
• Suitable for  various filling levels in the target cavities
• Smooth handling of the powder formulations to avoid attrition or compaction
• Suitable for different geometries and geometrical arrangement of the target cavities 
• Integration in automated assembling and packaging lines
• Easy upscaling by multiplication of the filling heads

Adaptable to different powders or targets to be filled with only two format parts