A new device could analyze patients’ breath

A small device under development in the United States is able to detect and analyze molecules in the air, which could one day have multiple applications in the health field.

We could for example consider that diabetics no longer have to prick the end of a finger to measure their blood sugar. Similarly, said the first author of the study, Jingcheng Ma, who carried out this work as part of his post-doctoral studies at the University of Chicago and who is now a professor at Notre-Dame University. For example, “Several patients avoid pricking to avoid pain,” he said. Nevertheless, So, we try to obtain the same information in the breath. Similarly, It is very difficult because obviously, what is in breath is much more diluted than there is in the blood. However, ” The small device (which was called Able. an new device could analyze patients’ acronym of ‘Airborne Biomarker Localization Engine’ in English) could also detect the viruses, bacteria and even nanoplastics present in the air of hospitals and public spaces, or even save newborns with difficult and painful blood samples.

It measures only ten centimeters by twenty centimeters and could be manufactured for less than 200 US. The technical functioning of the apparatus obviously escapes the understanding of the common of mortals. but a press release posted by Notre-Dame explains that the “sucks the air, adds water vapor and cools it”. The air sample then condenses “in water droplets on the surface of microscopic silicon tips. a process which allows to concentrate even the most tiny amounts of contaminants”. These droplets then slide into a tank where they are tested to detect biomarkers. Several of these biomarkers (which can notably be produced by the organization which fights pathogens) are practically undetectable in the air. new device could analyze patients’ since there are only a few parts per billion (even by a thousand billion) in the environment – which Professor Ma compares to identify six or seven individuals in the population of the planet.

“I think this could also be important for monitoring food security,” said Professor MA. You could also use (the device) to capture. analyze odors and the odorous molecules present in the air from your food. ” The device. he added, “does not analyze anything at all, it condenses what is in the air in droplets”, since the analysis of the water droplets is much easier than the analysis of gaseous particles in the air, which requires complex and expensive devices like mass spectrometers. It then depends on the sensors that are connected to Able. For example. we could have envisaged to use it to detect the Sras-Cov-2 (the COVVI-19 virus), rather than detect it with strips new device could analyze patients’ of paper as was the case during the pandemic. Able has so far managed to measure glucose in breath, E.coli bacteria in suspension in the air and inflammatory markers around mouse cages whose intestinal microbiome is in bad shape.

The area is however so new, however, that researchers do not know exactly what able molecules should seek. A next step will therefore be to develop a kind of “catalog” of relevant molecules. for example to find out which molecules would reveal an irritable colon syndrome. The conclusions of this study were published by the Journal Nature Chemical Engineering.

Legend and Photo credit: Able has so far managed to measure glucose in breath, E.coli bacteria in suspension in air and inflammatory markers around mouse cages whose intestinal microbiome is in bad shape. (Photo: University of Chicago/Pengju Li) Jean-Benoit Legault