Exhaled breath analysis: a review of ‘breath-taking’ methods for off-line analysis

Abstract

in the area. In addition, the review will discuss and critique various breath sampling methods for off-line breath analysis. Methods Literature search was carried out in databases MEDLINE, BIOSIS, EMBASE, INSPEC, COMPENDEX, PQSCITECH, and SCISEARCH using the STN platform which delivers peer-reviewed articles. Keywords searched for include breath, sampling, collection, pre-concentration, volatile. Forward and reverse search was then performed on initially included articles. The breath collection methodologies of all included articles was subsequently reviewed. Results Sampling methods differs between research groups, for example regarding the portion of breath being targeted. Definition of late expiratory breath varies between studies. Conclusions Breath analysis is an interdisciplinary field of study using clinical, analytical chemistry, data processing, and metabolomics expertise. A move towards standardisation in breath sampling is currently being promoted within the breath research community with a view to harmonising analysis and thereby increasing robustness and inter-laboratory comparisons.

Exhaled breath analysis in the diagnosis of head and neck cancer

“…The theory of EBA for cancer diagnosis is based on the concept that cancer initiation is associated with increase in oxidative stress that can cause alteration in the profile of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), proteins, and other components . Such alterations can be detected in exhaled breath as increased or decreased concentrations of biomarkers connected with a specific disease that is associated with specific pathologic changes . The history of research on breath analysis is strongly associated with Linus Pauling, the Nobel Prize winner in 1971, who explained that human breath is a complex gas mixture containing more than 200 VOCs .…”

From systems biology to P4 medicine: applications in respiratory medicine

“…In the near future, these technologies may well serve to alert individuals in real-time to any high-risk alteration from healthy baseline measurements in order to prevent clinical complications such as organ failure, heart attacks [33], prion disease [34], liver injury [35], cancer recurrence [36], diabetes [37] or asthma attacks [38]. This scheme is expected to be especially powerful when combined with personalised genomic data, as well as other biosensors continuously tracking essential variables, such as exhaled breath [39], urine [40], imaging [41] and/or ambient pathogens or allergens [42][43][44].…”

Critical evaluation of microextraction pretreatment techniques – Part 1: Single drop and sorbent‐based techniques

“…The extraction material can be applied as a thin film (thin‐film microextraction), so the surface for the extraction is larger and consequently the sample volumes can be increased . This method is very popular for non‐invasive direct analysis of breath, skin or saliva . The possibility of direct connection with MS is also a great advantage, specifically in direct analysis in real time (DART‐MS/MS), where the extraction membrane is placed in the instrument without any previous desorption step .…”

“…The extraction material can be applied as a thin film (thin-film microextraction), so the surface for the extraction is larger and consequently the sample volumes can be increased [89,90]. This method is very popular for non-invasive direct analysis of breath, skin or saliva [91,92].…”