Editing Nebulizer (section)

===Mechanical===

====Soft mist inhaler====
The medical company [[Boehringer Ingelheim]] also invented a device named [[Respimat]] Soft Mist Inhaler in 1997. This new technology provides a metered dose to the user, as the liquid bottom of the inhaler is rotated clockwise 180 degrees by hand, adding a buildup tension into a spring around the flexible liquid container. When the user activates the bottom of the inhaler, the energy from the spring is released and imposes pressure on the flexible liquid container, causing liquid to spray out of 2 nozzles, thus forming a soft mist to be inhaled. The device features no gas propellant and no need for battery/power to operate. The average droplet size in the mist was measured to 5.8 micrometers, which could indicate some potential efficiency problems for the inhaled medicine to reach the lungs. Subsequent trials have proven this was not the case. Due to the very low velocity of the mist, the Soft Mist Inhaler in fact has a higher efficiency compared to a conventional pMDI.<ref name="Soft Mist Inhaler">{{cite web|url=http://www.respimat.com/com/Main/functions/howitworks/index.jsp|author=Boehringer Ingelheim|title=How it works: Respimat Soft Mist Inhaler|year=2003|access-date=2005-08-16|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527080759/http://www.respimat.com/com/Main/functions/howitworks/index.jsp|archive-date=2007-05-27}}</ref> In 2000, arguments were launched towards the European Respiratory Society (ERS) to clarify/expand their definition of a nebulizer, as the new Soft Mist Inhaler in technical terms both could be classified as a "hand driven nebulizer" and a "hand driven pMDI".<ref name="Soft Mist Inhaler definition">{{cite journal |journal=Eur Respir Rev |volume=10 |pages=187–191  |vauthors=Denyer J, etal |title=New liquid drug aerosol devices for inhalation therapy |year=2000}}</ref>