We developed a new mass spectrometer that can analyse multicomponent gases without fragmentation. This is essentially a time-of-flight (TOF) mass analyser in which the ion attachment method is used for ionisation. The method using this new device is referred to as “time-of-flight analysis in combination with ion-attachment” (TOFIA). TOFIA has the capability to analyse breath gas in about 10 min using the radio-frequency (RF) ion-guiding method and a multichannel scaler (MCS). The mass resolution of the trial device was unsatisfactory, but the device can be greatly improved in the future. We successfully analysed exhaled breath gases related to diseases, including ammonia, acetone, and isoprene gases. We expect that the TOFIA device developed in this work will contribute significantly to studies on the relationship between breath gas and health.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.