title: Development of the premature infant nose throat-model (PrINT-Model): an upper airway replica of a premature neonate for the study of aerosol delivery.
abstract: Clinical efficacy of aerosol therapy in premature newborns depends on the efficiency of delivery of aerosolized drug to the bronchial tree. To study the influence of various anatomical, physical, and physiological factors on aerosol delivery in preterm newborns, it is crucial to have appropriate in vitro models, which are currently not available. We therefore constructed the premature infant nose throat-model (PrINT-Model), an upper airway model corresponding to a premature infant of 32-wk gestational age by three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of a three-planar magnetic resonance imaging scan and subsequent 3D-printing. Validation was realized by visual comparison and comparison of total airway volume. To study the feasibility of measuring aerosol deposition, budesonide was aerosolized through the cast and lung dose was expressed as percentage of nominal dose. The airway volumes of the initial magnetic resonance imaging and validation computed tomography scan showed a relative deviation of 0.94%. Lung dose at low flow (1 L/min) was 61.84% and 9.00% at high flow (10 L/min), p < 0.0001. 3D-reconstruction provided an anatomically accurate surrogate of the upper airways of a 32-wk-old premature infant, making the model suitable for future in vitro testing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of Bern, Inselspital, Bern, BE, Switzerland. stefan.minocchieri@insel.ch
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Minocchieri
authors.forename: Juerg Martin
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Burren
authors.forename: Marc Aurel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bachmann
authors.forename: Georgette
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wildhaber
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buob
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schindel
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kraemer
authors.forename: Urs Peter
authors.initials: UP
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nelle
mesh_terms: D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D009666:Nose / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000033:anatomy & histology