Patent ID: 7261102

Claim:
A medicament delivery system comprising: A. a nebulizer including a housing extending along a housing axis from a base end to an energy delivery end, said housing including therein: i. an ultrasonic transducer responsive to applied electrical energy to generate ultrasonic energy at an output surface thereof; ii. an ultrasonic transmission horn extending along said housing axis between an input energy surface at an input end and an energy delivery surface at an output end, said input energy surface being acoustically coupled to said output surface of said transducer, said horn being adapted to transmit ultrasonic energy applied at said input energy surface along said housing axis to said energy delivery surface, B. an open-faced mist chamber-defining element extending along a chamber axis from an open-faced coupling end and said mist chamber-defining element including a tubular input/output port extending therefrom along a port axis, said port axis being angularly offset from said chamber axis, C. coupling means for selectively coupling said open-faced coupling end of said mist chamber-defining element to said energy delivery end of said housing whereby said interior volume of said mist chamber-defining element is opposite said energy delivery surface of said horn and said chamber axis is substantially parallel to said housing axis, D. a tubular inhalation port extending between a user end and a device end, E. a bidirectional valve assembly having a first port coupled to said device end of said inhalation port, a second port coupled to said port of said mist chamber-defining element and a third port coupled to points exterior to said bidirectional valve assembly, wherein said valve assembly defines a unidirectional airflow path only from said interior volume of said mist chamber-defining element to said user end of said inhalation port when the pneumatic pressure in said inhalation port is lower than the pneumatic pressure in said interior volume of said mist chamber-defining element, and wherein said valve assembly defines a unidirectional airflow path only from said user end of said inhalation port to said exterior points, when the pneumatic pressure in said inhalation port is greater than the pneumatic pressure in said interior volume of said mist chamber-defining element.