Recommendable! Good overview article! Breath tests have an untapped potential!
"... Smelling a person’s breath was one of the first diagnostic tests known, even as far back as Roman times. The sweetish smell of acetone on a person’s breath was a strong indication that they were suffering from diabetes mellitus. ...
Breath tests for drugs are now being developed, but this is a much more complex analytical exercise than testing for alcohol could ever be. Few drugs are as volatile as alcohol is, and there are many different compounds to test for. A negative test for ethanol is enough to prove that a driver is not drunk, but a negative drug test might mean that the drug taken was not one of those tested for. And almost all drugs – prescription drugs, which can seriously affect a patient’s ability to drive, as well as drugs of abuse – are chemically much more complex than ethanol. ...
Non-volatile compounds are exhaled in aerosol particles: tiny droplets of liquid that are formed during normal breathing. If a subject has recently consumed a non-volatile drug substance, that substance can be detected in a sample condensed from those aerosol particles. ... are developing a device that will collect a useful sample if a subject breathes normally into it for a few minutes. This sample can be taken to a forensic lab and tested for a variety of drug compounds using tandem liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC–MS), a technique that is sensitive and reliable enough for its readings to be used in court. ... No LC–MS machine has yet been designed that is fast, simple and portable enough for use at the roadside, even for screening, but it is not impossible to imagine that such a device will be used one day. ...
Exhalation Technology ... specialising in testing exhaled breath condensate (EBC). It has an interesting history, as Stig Brejl, one of its directors, explains. ‘Racehorses often suffer from an asthma-like condition that affects their form, and it is important to diagnose this early enough to pull an affected horse from a race. ... identified hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in horse breath as an inflammatory biomarker for this condition and developed a diagnostic device that can be used without veterinary training ...
The outcome of this study was Inflammacheck, a hand-held device for collecting breath condensate and measuring hydrogen peroxide concentrations. In humans, this is a biomarker for oxidative stress caused by lung inflammation that is found in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and severe asthma. Interestingly, the dominant inflammatory biomarker in patients with mild asthma is a different one – fractional exhaled nitric oxide – and this, plus the spirometry (peak flow) tests that patients with severe disease find difficult to use, is often used for diagnosis. ...
Exhalation Technology’s new CoronaCheck device, the condensate flows to a sensor where virus particles are bound. These can then be detected by a Sars-Cov-2 specific biosensor, generating an electrochemical readout in only 2–5 minutes, faster than the approved lateral flow tests. ..."
Breath tests for drugs are now being developed, but this is a much more complex analytical exercise than testing for alcohol could ever be. Few drugs are as volatile as alcohol is, and there are many different compounds to test for. A negative test for ethanol is enough to prove that a driver is not drunk, but a negative drug test might mean that the drug taken was not one of those tested for. And almost all drugs – prescription drugs, which can seriously affect a patient’s ability to drive, as well as drugs of abuse – are chemically much more complex than ethanol. ...
Non-volatile compounds are exhaled in aerosol particles: tiny droplets of liquid that are formed during normal breathing. If a subject has recently consumed a non-volatile drug substance, that substance can be detected in a sample condensed from those aerosol particles. ... are developing a device that will collect a useful sample if a subject breathes normally into it for a few minutes. This sample can be taken to a forensic lab and tested for a variety of drug compounds using tandem liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC–MS), a technique that is sensitive and reliable enough for its readings to be used in court. ... No LC–MS machine has yet been designed that is fast, simple and portable enough for use at the roadside, even for screening, but it is not impossible to imagine that such a device will be used one day. ...
Exhalation Technology ... specialising in testing exhaled breath condensate (EBC). It has an interesting history, as Stig Brejl, one of its directors, explains. ‘Racehorses often suffer from an asthma-like condition that affects their form, and it is important to diagnose this early enough to pull an affected horse from a race. ... identified hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in horse breath as an inflammatory biomarker for this condition and developed a diagnostic device that can be used without veterinary training ...
The outcome of this study was Inflammacheck, a hand-held device for collecting breath condensate and measuring hydrogen peroxide concentrations. In humans, this is a biomarker for oxidative stress caused by lung inflammation that is found in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and severe asthma. Interestingly, the dominant inflammatory biomarker in patients with mild asthma is a different one – fractional exhaled nitric oxide – and this, plus the spirometry (peak flow) tests that patients with severe disease find difficult to use, is often used for diagnosis. ...
Exhalation Technology’s new CoronaCheck device, the condensate flows to a sensor where virus particles are bound. These can then be detected by a Sars-Cov-2 specific biosensor, generating an electrochemical readout in only 2–5 minutes, faster than the approved lateral flow tests. ..."
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