Fig. 2

PSD curves of nebulized saline showing the distribution density (left curves) and cumulative distribution (right curves). Mean droplet diameters were measured (n = 3 for each confirmation) in a range of 0.5 to 900 μm. The error bars show one time the standard deviation. a Volume-weighted PSD curves showing the influence of maximal upstream injection pressure on D(v,0.5). 20 mL of saline was nebulized in open space at a fixed flow rate of 0.5 mL/s and a maximal upstream injection pressure of 20 bar (blue graph), 10 bar (red graph) or 5 bar (black graph). b Volume-weighted PSD curves illustrating the influence of flow rate on D(v,0.5). 20 mL of saline was nebulized in open space at a fixed maximal upstream injection pressure of 20 bar and a flow rate of 0.5 mL/s (blue graph) or 0.8 mL/s (red graph). c Volume-weighted PSD curves demonstrating the influence of the volume of the peritoneal cavity on D(v,0.5). To simulate a nebulization in a rat’s abdominal cavity, 20 mL of saline was nebulized in a plastic box (V = 100 mL) with a flow rate of 0.8 mL/s and a maximal upstream injection pressure of 20 bar (red graph). 200 mL of saline was nebulized in a plastic box (V = 5 L) with a flow rate of 0.5 mL/s and a maximal upstream injection pressure of 20 bar (blue graph) as a comparison with the nebulization in human. The plastic boxes were bilaterally pierced to transvers laser light and a third perforation was made at the top of the boxes to insert the nebulizer