The Taifun® dry powder inhaler (Leiras OY, Turku, Finland) is a breath-actuated, multidose device, each metered dose containing 200 μg of budesonide. A two-way randomized crossover gamma
scintigraphic study was performed in 10 asthmatic patients to determine the in vivo deposition pattern of budesonide inhaled from the Taifun®. In vitro radiolabelling validation
studies demonstrated that the radiolabel could be used as an accurate marker to assess in vivo drug deposition. Patients used either maximal inspiratory effort (targeted peak inhalation flow 30 L/min)
or submaximal inspiratory effort (targeted peak inhalation flow 15 L/min) on each study day. Mean (S.D.) whole lung deposition (% of metered dose) was 34.3 (5.8)% and 29.6 (5.9)% for the two inhalation
flows. The intersubject coefficient of variation in lung deposition was less than 20% on both study days. Drug was deposited uniformly across the central, intermediate, and peripheral lung regions for maximal
and submaximal inspiratory efforts. The study suggests that the Taifun® is a superior drug delivery device compared with many other inhalers, in terms of the amount of drug deposited in the
lungs, the reproducibility of the lung dose, and the relative flow-independence of lung deposition.
