title: A novel ultrasonic aerosol generator.
abstract: An ultrasonic aerosol generator constructed from a domestic humidifier is described which has been used to produce liquid aerosols for physiological investigations. The instrument was constructed from a Pifco domestic humidifier modified to include an energy guide to direct the oscillations of the transducer through the coupling water, which would normally be aerosolized, onto a small membrane based sample chamber containing the liquid to be aerosolized. The size distribution of the aerosol produced was found to be between 2 and 6 mm, optimum for diffuse intrapulmonary deposition. Up to 4 ml/min of aqueous liquid was used; however the sample chamber could be made small enough to contain economic amounts of expensive material to administer by inhalation. The instrument has proved to be reliable over a period of three years.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Studies, University of Central England, Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pirie
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols; D004867:Equipment Design; D006794:Household Articles; D006813:Humidity; D014465:Ultrasonics
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols