Slideshow: Breathing New Life Into Medicine

Inhalers have been around for years, but it's only recently that scientists have figured out how to deliver drugs to the whole body through the lungs, instead of using needles. First on the hit list: insulin. By Kari L. Dean.
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Inhalable pulmonary drug technology produces fine, aerodynamic drug particles, enabling efficient dispersal and reproducible delivery of both large and small molecules to the alveoli of the deep lung.Nektar

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Firstgeneration AERx inhalation drugdelivery devices  insulin opioid delivery  and a generic platform device for initial...

First-generation AERx inhalation drug-delivery devices (from left to right): insulin, opioid delivery (with safety keys) and a generic platform device for initial human studies.

Aradigm
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Scintigraphic images of lung deposition in a healthy subject following inhalation of a radiolabeled tracer drug.

Aradigm