Can a thumping machine get drugs deeper into scarred lungs?

This study looked at whether a device that delivers gentle thumps to the lungs (intrapulmonary percussion ventilation) can help inhaled medication reach scarred areas in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Nine participants inhaled a harmless radioactive tracer with and without the device, and imaging was used to see how much reached the scarred tissue. The goal was to understand if this approach could improve drug delivery, not to treat the disease itself.