For several
years, scientists have been working toward "breathalyzers" that can
diagnose various diseases without painful pinpricks, needles or other
unpleasant methods. Now, one team has developed a new, portable breath analyzer
that could someday help doctors diagnose diabetes noninvasively in the office.
The report appears in the ACS journal Analytical
Chemistry.
Many studies examining the hallmarks of diabetes in
exhaled breath have shown that elevated levels of acetone are strongly linked
to diabetes. Detecting the concentrations of any given substance in breath in a
simple way, however, is a major challenge. Breath contains a complex mix of
compounds, including water, carbon dioxide and methane, that can throw results
off. Mass spectrometry can do the job, but it's not very practical for
point-of-care testing. Robert Peverall and colleagues wanted to fill that void.
The researchers created a hand-held device with an
adsorbent polymer that can trap acetone from exhaled breath, then release it
into a cavity where a laser probes its concentration. They tested the accuracy
of the device on the breath of healthy subjects under different conditions,
such as after overnight fasting or exercising, and compared results with mass
spectrometry readings. The measurements were a close match and covered a wide
range of concentrations, including those that would suggest a patient has
undiagnosed type-1 diabetes, or has problems controlling their blood glucose.
Adding to the practicality of the device, the researchers say it could be
re-used many times.
Source: Science Daily
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