METHODS FOR DETERMINING THE PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF AEROSOLS AND DEVICE FOR CARRYING OUT SUCH METHODS

摘要

The invention relates to a method and a device for determining the size distribution of aerosol particles, especially particles of a pharmaceutical formulation. According to the invention, the carrier medium (e.g. air) receiving the particles is enriched in a conditioning device (24) by means of a conditioning agent (e.g. water, alcohol) according to a pre-determined degree of saturation. The carrier medium which is conditioned in this way is supplied to a mixing chamber (25) and is mixed with the aerosol particles which are dosed by means of an atomiser (26) in such a way as to form a conditioned aerosol. The particle size distribution is preferably measured by means of the laser diffraction method or the scattered light method, whereby preferably at least one measuring cell (23) is integrated into the first (2a) or the second (2b) part of a USP throat (2). The angle measuring cell (29) also comprises an entrance window (21) for the measuring light emitted by a laser (27), and an exit window (22) for the light which is scattered by the particles and imaged on a semiconductor detector (29) by means of a lens (28). The measurement can also be carried out by means of the impactor method.