Exhaled breath analysis is a method in medicine for gaining information on the clinical state of an individual by monitoring the components present in the exhaled breath. It is a non-invasive method and breath samples can be extracted as often as desired. Identification and quantification of potential disease biomarkers can be seen as the driving force for the analysis of exhaled breath. Moreover, future applications for medical diagnosis and therapy control with dynamic assessments of normal physiological function or pharmacodynamics are intended. Breath analysis is performed using various approaches for sampling and analysis. Breath gas analysis consists of the analysis of volatile organic compounds, for example in blood alcohol testing, and various analytical methods can be applied.

Breath aerosol analysis Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen. All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cellular ...

consists in the sampling and analysis of particles emitted in the respiratory tract and present in exhaled breath. This is a relatively new field that holds great promise for direct diagnostics of pathogens, such as

Influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

, and for in-vivo monitoring of the respiratory lining fluid ( Respiratory epithelium) components, such as

proteins Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

and phospholipids.Almstrand A-C, Ljungström E, Lausmaa J, Bake B, Sjövall P, Olin A-C. Airway Monitoring by Collection and Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Exhaled Particles. Anal Chem. 2009 Jan 15;81(2):662–8. Various methods are used for sampling exhaled breath aerosols, such as filters, impactors,

impingement filter {{no footnotes, date=July 2014 An impingement filter can be used to purify a polluted solution, be it gas or liquid. The impingement filter acts by inducing the solution to change direction and the particles to adhere to the filter medium. In many ...

, or

electrostatic precipitators An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is a filterless device that removes fine particles, like dust and smoke, from a flowing gas using the force of an induced electrostatic charge minimally impeding the flow of gases through the unit. In con ...

. This latter field is related to that of

Bioaerosol Bioaerosols (short for biological aerosols) are a subcategory of particles released from terrestrial and marine ecosystems into the atmosphere. They consist of both living and non-living components, such as fungi, pollen, bacteria and viruses. Commo ...

sampling and analysis.

References

{{reflist Breath tests Mathematical and theoretical biology Respiratory system procedures