A Device to Measure a Smoker’s Puffing Topography and Real-Time Puff-By-Puff “Tar” Delivery

A device for measuring the flow, duration and volume characteristics of human puffing behaviour when smoking cigarettes is described. Cigarettes are smoked through a holder comprising a measured pressure drop across a critical orifice. The holder also contains a Light Emitting Diode (LED) and photodetector that measures light obscuration in order to estimate nicotine-free dry particulate matter (NFDPM, “tar”) delivery. All data are recorded on a puff-by-puff basis and displayed in real time. These NFDPM estimates are known as optical “tar” (OT), and are derived from the calibration of the OT measurement versus gravimetric NFDPM yields of cigarettes under a range of smoking regimes. In a test study, puff volumes from 20-80 mL were recorded to ± 6.0% of a pre-set volume, with an absolute error of 4.7 mL for an 80 mL volume drawn on a lit cigarette, and an average error of less than 2.0 mL across the range 20-80 mL. The relationship between NFDPM and OT was linear (R2 = 0.99) and accurate to ± 1.3 mg per cigarette over the range 1-23 mg per cigarette. The device provides an alternative to the widely used part filter methodology for estimating mouth level exposure with an added benefit that no further laboratory smoking replication or analysis is required. When used in conjunction with the part filter methodology, the puffing behaviour recorded can explain anomalies in the data while providing a second independent estimate.