Patent ID: 8517009

Claim:
A pressurized metered dose inhaler which delivers a bolus of medicament into an air flow caused by the inspiratory breath of a patient comprising: a flow control chamber having a primarily open end and a primarily closed end, wherein the patient causes an inspiratory air flow by breathing through said primarily open end of said flow control chamber; a medicament discharge element adapted to deliver a bolus of said medicament into said flow control chamber immediately before or during patient's inspiratory breath; and one or more vortexing elements disposed within or comprising part of said flow control chamber and adapted to have some portion of said inspiratory air flow through openings in said vortexing elements wherein said openings impart a tangential velocity to said inspiratory air flow and create a helical swirl pattern to said inspiratory air flow and to said medicament bolus, wherein said one or more vortexing elements comprises a vortexing back plate disposed at the primarily closed end and wherein said medicament bolus is introduced into the inspiratory air flow between said vortexing back plate and said primarily open end of said flow control chamber; and wherein the flow rate of said medicament bolus when it reaches the primarily open end of said flow control chamber has been slowed and approximately matches the air flow of said inspiratory air flow.