Inhaled Dissolution

The Inhaled Dissolution Apparatus (IDA) is used to support inhaled dissolution testing by collecting aerosolised drug onto a filter and enabling dissolution profiling under controlled conditions. It was purpose-designed to address long-standing challenges in this area, where laboratories have often relied on adapted or inconsistent approaches that can make results difficult to repeat or compare. With its consistent Collect > Transfer > Dissolve workflow, the IDA helps generate repeatable, comparable dissolution profiles to support product understanding and comparative studies, in line with growing regulatory and industry demand for more robust in vitro performance evidence.

The Inhaled Dissolution Apparatus (IDA) supports testing of a wide range of orally inhaled and nasal drug products, and is compatible with a wide range of common inlet configurations. This allows dissolution assessment to be performed using the same collection approaches and interfaces routinely used in established in vitro testing, helping IDA complement and extend existing compendial workflows rather than requiring a completely different setup. Compatible configurations include the NGI Induction Port, NGI Preseparator, FSI, Alberta Throat (adult and child), AINI, and glass expansion chambers.

The IDA provides a purpose-built workflow specifically developed for orally inhaled products (OIPs), addressing the practical challenges of measuring dissolution from the small mass of drug typically collected during testing. The system uses a reduced-diameter paddle and a dedicated flat-bottom vessel to support OIP-relevant media volumes, helping maintain consistent circulation around the filter during testing. This optimised geometry supports repeatable, comparable dissolution profiling and reduces the uncertainty that can arise when adapting traditional dissolution equipment for inhaled applications.

The IDA is designed to support a consistent, repeatable inhaled dissolution workflow by reducing the number of handling steps between sample collection and dissolution testing. A key feature is the specially designed Filter Holder, which allows the collected sample to be transferred directly into the dissolution setup by attaching it directly to the specially adapted dissolution paddle. This minimises manual filter handling, helping protect the integrity of the collected dose and reducing the risk of sample disturbance, loss, or variability between tests. By supporting a standardised Collect > Transfer > Dissolve process, the IDA enables more repeatable dissolution profiling and more comparable data across studies and laboratories.

The IDA can be used with constant flow rate test setups (for example using a vacuum pump and flow controller) and can also be configured for more physiologically relevant flow conditions using a breathing simulator. This includes tidal breathing and inhalation-only breathing profiles, allowing the collection step to be aligned with the intended application and test objective.