Nebulizer

1. A method for generating aerosol via a nebulizer head, comprising:

delivering power and a plurality of control signals from a host system to a controller via a universal bus cable and a universal bus plug connectable to the host system;

generating a plurality of nebulizer head drive signals based on the plurality of control signals via the controller; and delivering the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals to the nebulizer head via a head cable having a proprietary head plug; and

generating aerosol via the nebulizer head according to the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the controller further includes a boost circuit, the method further including:

generating a voltage supply for a processor and the drive circuit of the controller via the boost circuit.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a voltage level of the voltage supply is 12V.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of control signals includes at a nebulization flow rate signal, a nebulization pulse rate signal, or an inspiratory/expiratory signal to enable phased nebulization.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals includes a wet/dry state of the nebulizer head, a nebulizer disconnect status, a cable disconnect status, an error or fault status, or a nebulization duration and time of nebulization.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the delivering the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals to the nebulizer head is done via a drive circuit of the controller, and wherein the drive circuit generates a waveform having a frequency range between 120 kHz and 150 kHz.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein a total power requirement of the controller and of the nebulizer head falls within a power specification of USB protocol.

8. The method of claim 1 , further including:

delivering to the nebulizer head no more than 500 mA at nominal 5V from the controller.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the head cable, controller, and bus cable form an in-line arrangement.

10. A method for generating aerosol via a nebulizer head, comprising:

delivering power and a control signal from a host system to a controller via a universal bus cable and a universal bus plug extending from a first end of the controller, wherein the control signal includes at least one of a nebulization flow rate signal, a nebulization pulse rate signal, or an inspiratory/expiratory signal to enable phased nebulization;

generating a nebulizer head drive signal based on the control signal via the controller;

delivering the nebulizer head drive signal and power to the nebulizer head via a head cable having a proprietary head plug extending from a second end of the controller; and

generating aerosol via the nebulizer head according to the nebulizer head drive signal.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the control signal is one of a plurality of control signals, wherein each control signal of the plurality of control signals is a different type of signal than any other control signal of the plurality of control signals.

12. The method of claim 10 , further including:

uploading to the host system via the universal bus cable and universal bus plug the following nebulizer characteristic information previously captured from the nebulizer head:

a wet/dry state of the nebulizer head,

a nebulizer disconnect status,

a cable disconnect status,

an error or fault status, or

a nebulization duration and time of nebulization.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the generating the nebulizer head drive signal is at least partially based on a patient dosing regime.

14. The method of claim 10 , further including:

downloading control instructions from and/or uploading nebulizer data to a remote server.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the host system includes a smartphone or tablet computer.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the host system is one of a plurality of host systems, each host system of the plurality of host systems including varying configurations and/or functions, and wherein the controller is interchangeably coupleable to each of the plurality of host systems via the bus cable and bus plug.

17. A method for generating aerosol via a nebulizer head, comprising:

delivering power and a plurality of control signals from a host system to a controller via a universal bus cable and a universal bus plug, wherein the plurality of control signals include two or more of a nebulization flow rate signal, a nebulization pulse rate signal, or an inspiratory/expiratory signal to enable phased nebulization;

generating a plurality of nebulizer head drive signals based on the plurality of control signals via the controller, wherein the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals includes two or more of a wet/dry state of the nebulizer head, a nebulizer disconnect status, a cable disconnect status, an error or fault status, or a nebulization duration and time of nebulization;

delivering the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals to the nebulizer head via a head cable having a proprietary head plug, wherein the host system, universal bus plug, universal bus cable, controller, head cable, proprietary head plug, and nebulizer head form an in-line arrangement; and

generating aerosol via the nebulizer head according to the plurality of nebulizer head drive signals.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the controller is interchangeably coupleable to a plurality of host systems of varying configurations and/or functions via the bus plug and bus cable.

19. The method of claim 17 , further including:

downloading control instructions from and/or uploading nebulizer data to a remote server.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the generating the nebulizer head drive signal is at least partially based on a patient dosing regime.