Automated Inhalation Toxicology Exposure System and Method

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes but is not limited to: conditioning an inhalent environment; exposing a first organism to the inhalent environment for a first-organism duration of time; and exposing a second organism to the inhalent environment for a second-organism duration of time. In addition to the foregoing, other method embodiments are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present application. In one or more various embodiments, related systems include but are not limited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting the foregoing-referenced method embodiments; the circuitry and/or programming can be virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware configured to effect the foregoing-referenced method embodiments depending upon the design choices of the system designer. In one embodiment, a system includes but is not limited to: an inhalent manifold; a first independently-controllable exposure unit coupled to said inhalent manifold; a second independently-controllable exposure unit coupled to said inhalent manifold; and an exposure control system operably coupled to either or both said first independently-controllable exposure unit and said second independently-controllable exposure unit.

1 . A method comprising: 
 automatically conditioning an inhalent environment to achieve a predetermined environmental condition;    distributing to a first organism the conditioned inhalent environment for a first-organism duration of time; and    distributing to a second organism the conditioned inhalent environment for a second-organism duration of time; and    wherein the first organism and the second organism are exposed to the same conditioned inhalant environment after the inhalent environment has been completely conditioned.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said automatically conditioning an inhalent environment comprises: 
 introducing an inhalent into an inhalent manifold.    
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said introducing an inhalent into an inhalent manifold comprises: 
 introducing the inhalent into an inhalent intake plenum operably coupled with an inner manifold.    
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said automatically conditioning an inhalent environment comprises: 
 monitoring at least one environmental condition selected from an environmental-condition group including temperature, relative humidity, pressure, and inhalent concentration.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said automatically conditioning an inhalent environment comprises: 
 adjusting at least one environmental condition selected from an environmental-condition group including temperature, relative humidity, pressure, and inhalent concentration.    
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said distributing to a second organism comprises: 
 coupling the inhalent environment to a second apertured connector containing at least a part of the second organism for the second-organism duration of time.    
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 performing an inhalent or exposure study, wherein said performing the inhalent or exposure study comprises said automatically conditioning, said distributing to a first organism, and said distributing to a second organism.    
   
   
       8 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising distributing clean air to at least one of the first organism and the second organism during conditioning of the inhalent environment to a predetermined environmental condition.  
   
   
       9 . A system comprising: 
 means for automatically conditioning an inhalent environment to achieve a predetermined environmental condition;    means for automatically distributing to a first organism the conditioned inhalent environment for a first-organism duration of time; and    means for automatically distributing to a second organism the conditioned inhalent environment for a second-organism duration of time;    wherein both distributing means provide exposure to the same conditioned inhalent environment after the predetermined environmental condition is achieved.    
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein said means for automatically conditioning an inhalent environment comprises: 
 means for introducing an inhalent into an inhalent manifold.    
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein said means for introducing an inhalent into an inhalent manifold comprises: 
 means for introducing the inhalent into an inhalent intake plenum operably coupled with an inner manifold.    
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein said means for automatically conditioning an inhalent environment comprises: 
 means for monitoring at least one environmental condition selected from an environmental-condition group including temperature, relative humidity, pressure, and inhalent concentration.    
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein said means for automatically conditioning an inhalent environment comprises: 
 means for adjusting at least one environmental condition selected from an environmental-condition group including temperature, relative humidity, pressure, and inhalent concentration.    
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein said means for automatically distributing to a second organism comprises: 
 means for coupling the inhalent environment to a second apertured connector containing at least a part of the second organism for the second-organism duration of time.    
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising: 
 means for performing an inhalent or exposure study, wherein said means for performing the inhalent or exposure study comprises said means for automatically conditioning, said means for distributing to a first organism, and said means for distributing to a second organism.    
   
   
       16 . The system according to  claim 9 , further comprising means for distributing clean air to at least one of the first organism and the second organism while the inhalent environment is being conditioned to a predetermined environmental condition.  
   
   
       17 . A method for performing an inhalation study using at least two organisms, the method comprising: 
 automatically conditioning an inhalent environment to achieve a predetermined environmental condition prior to distributing the inhalent environment to the organisms;    distributing the conditioned inhalent environment to a first organism for a first-organism duration of time;    distributing the conditioned inhalent environment to a second organism for a second-organism duration of time; and    prior to distributing the conditioned inhalent environment to the first organism and the second organism, distributing clean air to the first organism and the second organism; and    wherein the first organism and the second organism are exposed to the same conditioned inhalant environment after the inhalent environment has been completely conditioned.    
   
   
       18 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein the inhalent environment includes at least one material under testing.