Breath Biomarkers as Disease Indicators: Sensing Techniques Approach for Detecting Breath Gas and COVID-19

• Published in: Chemosensors Vol. 10; no. 5; p. 167
• Main Authors: Török, Zoltan-Mihály, Blaser, Arthur Frederic, Kavianynejad, Kiana, de Torrella, Carlos Gonzalo Moya Gual, Nsubuga, Lawrence, Mishra, Yogendra Kumar, Rubahn, Horst-Günter, de Oliveira Hansen, Roana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-05-2022
• Subjects: Acetaldehyde; Acetone; Biomarkers; colorimetric sensing; Colorimetry; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 detection; Diabetes mellitus; gas biomarker sensing; Gas composition; Gas sensors; Health and safety screening; Mutation; Pandemics; Patients; Quartz crystal microbalance; Quartz crystals; Sensors; Signs and symptoms; Viral infections
• ISSN: 2227-9040; 2227-9040
• DOI: 10.3390/chemosensors10050167

Extensive research shows that there is a close correlation between a disease diagnostic and the patient’s exhale breath gas composition. It has been demonstrated, for example, that patients with a diabetes diagnosis have a certain level of acetone fume in their exhale breath. Actually, symptoms from many other diseases could be easily diagnosed if appropriate and reliable gas sensing technologies are available. The COVID-19 pandemic has created demand for a cheap and quick screening tool for the disease, where breath biomarker screening could be a very promising approach. It has been shown that COVID-19 patients potentially present a simultaneous increase in ethanal (acetaldehyde) and acetone in their exhale breath. In this paper, we explore two different sensing approaches to detect ethanal/acetone, namely by colorimetric markers, which could for example be integrated into facemasks, and by a breathalyzer containing a functionalized quartz crystal microbalance. Both approaches can successfully detect the presence of a biomarker gas on a person’s breath and this could potentially revolutionize the future of healthcare in terms of non-invasive and early-stage detection of various diseases.