1859: Mathieu's Nephogene

Mathieu's Nephogine (Nebulizer) (1)

Modern nebulizers work by means of the Bernoulli Principle, where air is forced through a narrow tube, a negative side stream pressure is created, and medicine is sucked into the flow through a small opening in the tube, thus producing a fine spray or mist.  This concept was first used in a nebulizer in 1859 by M. Mathieu of Paris.  

A nebulizer is any device that creates a mist.  The first nebulizer was introduced in 1858 by M. Sales-Giron, and it required an operator to work a pump similar to a bicycle pump to generate a flow that caused the solution to spray onto a hard surface to produce a mist.  

Similar to Danielle Bernoulli's realization that the same mist produced by forcing water onto hard a surface could be produced by his Bernoulli Principle, Mathieu discovered the Bernoulli Principle would be ideal for creating an effective nebulizer.  He got the idea from the concept of treating ailments of the mouth and throat with a spray produced by squirting water out of a syringe.  (2, page 188)

On May 9, 1859, at the Paris Academy of Medicine,  he introduced his product, which he called the Nephogene (nebulizer), to the Medical Academy at Paris.  It was not a pulverizer or atomizer because it didn't pulverize nor atomize, it simply broke the solution into "a cloud or nebula"; it thus nebulized. (2, page 188)

The nebuliezr is described here:  (1, page 462-463)

"In it the subdivision of the medicated fluids is brought about, not by checking the jet against a solid body, but by forcing the fluid to escape at high pressure, along with a blast of compressed air, through a tube with a small opening. Fig. 2 shows Mathieu's original instrument. In it the air is compressed in the brass ball, A, by means of the pump above it, whilst the fluid to be atomised is put  into the glass ball, B. As soon as the instrument is set in motion the two stopcocks are opened, when; the medicated fluid escapes drop by drop into the tube c, and there meets the blast of compressed air, which forcibly projects it outwardVin the form of a very fine but cold spray." 

Another version designed by Mathieu can be seen in figure 18, and thus described here:

"This apparatus (Fig. 18) is composed of a glass reservoir c, in which the liquid to be employed is poured through the little funnel G. On compressing the air in the pump B, by motion of the lever A, the fluid is forced through a small groove in one of the plates forming the joint D, and by turning the screw H, the smooth plate is more or less compressed against the groove, thus regulating the delicacy of the stream. A stream as fine as the finest hair can be thus secured if the instrument be properly constructed. This capillary stream against the upper portion of the cylindrical metallic drum E, whence it is diffused in a very fine spray. A waste-pipe f, conveys the excess of fluid back into the reservoir. The force with which this little apparatus works is evident on removing the drum, when the stream will be projected up for several feet, then falling like a fountain. It is said that at a few inches distance the stream can be projected into the skin, thus forming a mode of endermic medication." (2, 193-194)

Before 1862 all the nebulizers produced were either based on the Sales-Giron or Mathieu design.  It was in 1862 the mechanisms of Mathieu's idea was greatly improved upon by a German named Dr. Bergson when he introduced the Bergson Apparatus and Inhaler in 1867.

Reference:  

1. Beatson, George, "Practical Papers on the Materials of the Antiseptic Method of Treatment," Vol. III, "On Spray Producers," Coats, Joseph, editor, "History of the Origin and Progress of Spray Producers  ", Glasgow Medical Journal, edited for the West of Scotland Medical Association, July to December 1880, Vol. XIV, Alex and Macdougall, pages 461-484
2. Cohen, Jacob Solis, "Inhalation in the treatment of disease: it's therapeutics and practice," 1876, Philadelphia, Lindsay and Blakiston

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1738: The Bernoulli Principle

The market for a device to create a spray was looming.  Perfume marketers yearned for a device to spray their products onto ladies.

The medical industry yearned for a product to spray medicine into the airways of respiratory patients.  Yet no such product would be possible without knowledge of the Bernoulli Principle.

We are not concerned about the perfume industry here, yet there are two times in the history of aerosol therapy that the perfume market actually helped the medical industry.

The first time was during the mid 19th century, and the second was in the mid 20th century.  The first produced the nebulizer, the second our modern inhaler.

As far as the inhalation of medicines, the medical industry already had one very good method, and that was the inhalation of smoke and steam.  The problem was that there were two different types of medicine: volatile and non-volatile.

Volatile medicines could be ignited and thus inhaled.  Tobacco, for example, is volatile and can be stuffed into a pipe and burned.  Strammonium and Belladonna were volatile, and could be placed on a brick, stone or plate, ignited, and the smoke inhaled.  This knowledge was known since the ancient world.

By the mid 19th century the search was on for a device that would turn a solution into a spray.  It was believed that such a device would break down the solution into atoms, and in this way the solution could be inhaled.  This breakdown was thus referred to as atomization, pulverizing or nebulizing, and the devices created were often referred to as atomizers, pulverizers or nebulizers.

Yet no such machine would have been invented if not for the discovery of the Bernoulli Principle. Daniel Bernoulli observed that when water hits a rock it creates a mist that can be inhaled. He published a book in 1738 where he described that a similar effect could be created by forcing water through a narrow tube.

His concept was based on the fact that the faster water flows through a tube, the less the lateral pressure will be.  A decreased lateral pressure is also referred to as a negative side stream preassure.  If there is a hole in the side of the tube, the negative pressure will force water into the stream.

This same concept was used in creating the first nebulizers, only using air.  Air is forced through a tube, and a hole in the tube is connected to a container with a solution in it that contains the medication.  The fluid is basically sucked in due to the negative sidewall pressure, and turned into a spray or mist. (1, page 61)

This concept is illustrated in figure 1.  In this figure steam is used to create the flow and the negative side stream pressure.  As the steam flows through the tube the negative side stream pressure causes the solution in the cup to be sucked into the stream, and thus a spray is developed.

References:

1. Clark, William F., Paul J. Mathews, Kenneth A. Wyka, "Foundations in Respiratory Care," 2002, Delmar Thomson Learning