Comparison of the Characteristics of 16 Commercial
Nebulizer/Compressor Combinations Used in Korea

Kim, Hyun Jung; Lee, Cho Ae; Hwang, Eun Kyung; Han, Man Young; Ann, Uk Sung; Cho, Young Min

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Pediatric Society 2003;46(12):1235-1241.
Published online December 15, 2003.

Comparison of the Characteristics of 16 Commercial Nebulizer/Compressor Combinations Used in Korea

Hyun Jung Kim¹, Cho Ae Lee¹, Eun Kyung Hwang¹, Man Young Han¹, Uk Sung Ann², Young Min Cho³

¹Department of Pediatrics, Bundang CHA General Hospital, College of Medicine, Pochon CHA University, Sungnam, Korea.
²Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology, Korea
³School of Environment and Applied Chemistry, Kyunghee University, Korea

국내 시판되는 16가지 연무기/압축기의 성능 평가

김현정^¹^, 이초애^¹^, 황은경^¹^, 한만용^¹^, 안욱성^²^, 조영민^³

^¹포천중문의과대학 소아과학교실
^²요업기술원
^³경희대학교 환경공학과

Correspondence:
Man Young Han, Email: drmesh@cha.ac.kr

Abstract

Purpose
: We assessed the dynamic characteristics of 16 nebulizer/compressor combinations currently available in Korea.
Methods
: The 16 nebulizer/compressor combinations(Pariboy Type 38/Long life, Pariboy Type N/ Long life, Pariboy Type N/Salter 8900, Pariboy Type N/LC, Devilbiss pulmoaid-LT/Hudson, Devilbiss pulmoaid/Hudson, Mesmed neb-300/Own, San-up 3040/Hudson, Midas(Basic)/Own, AirJolie 2/ Hudson, Thomas 1127/Salter 8900, Noel NE-2000/Salter 8900, Omron CX3/Hudson, Chang Woo CWN-100/Salter 8900, Voyage/Mefar, Chang Woo ASI-Pro/Medel jet pulse) were evaluated in terms of particle size and mass output. In addition, we determined the effects of nebulizer fill volume on mass output.
Results
: Pariboy Type N/Long life has the highest respirable mass of 0.184 mg/min and Mesmed Neb-300/Own has the lowest 0.019 mg/min. Pariboy Type N/Long life has the highest mass output of 0.68 mg/min and the shortest mass median aerodynamic diameter(MMAD) of 3.76 m. All combinations other than Pariboy Type N/Long life produced a MMAD of over 5 m. MMAD over a 5 min nebulization ranged 3.76 to 9.83 m. There were no significant effects of fill volume on mass output.
Conclusion
: We concluded that there is a wide variation in performance of nebulizer/compressor combinations. The characteristics of nebulizer/compressor combinations should be considered in selecting products.

Key Words: Particle size, Mass output, Nebulizers, Respiratory therapy