US 7,616,310 B2
	Process for determining the particle size distribution of an aerosol and apparatus for carrying out such a process
Jochen Ziegler, Heidelberg (Germany); and Herbert Wachtel, Bingen (Germany)
Assigned to Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Ingelheim (Germany)
Filed on Jun. 16, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/424,854.
Application 11/424854 is a continuation of application No. 11/170947, filed on Jun. 30, 2005, abandoned.
Application 11/170947 is a continuation of application No. 10/202578, filed on Jul. 24, 2002, abandoned.
Claims priority of application No. 101 36 554 (DE), filed on Jul. 27, 2001.
Prior Publication US 2006/0246010 A1, Nov. 02, 2006
Int. Cl. G01N 15/02 (2006.01)

U.S. Cl. 356—336  [250/574]

8 Claims

1. A process for determining the size distribution of particles in an aerosol used to administer pharmaceutical formulations to the lung, which process uses either the laser diffraction or the scattered light method, the process comprising the steps of: adding a conditioning agent to a carrier medium to a given degree of saturation to prepare a conditioned carrier medium, mixing the conditioned carrier medium with a pharmaceutical formulation to produce a conditioned aerosol, introducing the conditioned aerosol into a measuring cell, and determining the size distribution of the particles in the measuring cell.