Patent ID: 7597099

Claim:
A metered dose inhaler for dispensing metered doses of a medicament comprising: (i) a housing having an outlet; and (ii) an aerosol container locatable within said housing, wherein the container: (a) contains a plurality of metered doses of the medicament, and (b) has a dispensing valve, the dispensing valve being actuable to cause, in use, dispensing of a metered dose of the medicament from the container through the outlet; the metered dose inhaler further comprising: (iii) an electronic dose counter associated with said outlet which comprises: a sensor for directly detecting a metered medicament dose dispensed from said container through said outlet, and a visual display unit for displaying the number of metered doses of medicament used or remaining within the container in response to the sensor detecting dispensing of a metered medicament dose, wherein said sensor comprises an emitter to emit electromagnetic radiation and a detector to detect the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter, the emitter being arranged to emit the electromagnetic radiation such that it is interfered with by a metered dose of the medicament being dispensed from the container through the outlet whereby the sensor is able to detect said dispensing of the metered medicament dose.