Diagnosis of influenza by analysis of exhaled air

Flu patients will be calculated using a portable respiratory sensor

Kristina Ulasovich, N+1

American scientists have created a system for detecting influenza by analyzing exhaled air. The researchers talk about their development in an article published in the journal Sensors (Gouma et al., Novel Isoprene Sensor for a Flu Virus Breath Monitor).

Perena Gouma with a biosensor prototype. A picture from the press release of the University of Texas at Arlington
UTA materials scientist invents breath monitor to detect flu – VM.

In the breath of a person who suffers from a certain disease, there may be biomarkers indicating the presence of the disease. For example, patients with asthma have an increased concentration of nitric oxide in the exhaled air, and diabetics have acetone in their breath. After analyzing the medical literature, the authors of the new work determined that the flu is associated with the presence of isoprene and ammonia in the exhaled air, as well as with an increased content of nitric oxide. Based on these data, engineers have created a device that analyzes the patient's breathing and the biomarkers contained in it.

The new system vaguely resembles the indicator tubes that the police use to determine the degree of intoxication of drivers. The patient simply needs to exhale into a device with three semiconductor sensors to register flu-related compounds. These sensors are a substance with a nanocrystalline structure, which is selected so that when gas passes through the sensor, the molecules of biomarkers contained in it are sorbed by the sensor and change the electrical conductivity of the substance.

In particular, the researchers have developed a new sensor that can simultaneously detect the presence of two substances. To do this, they used a hexagonal modification of tungsten oxide (wo₃), which is sensitive to nitrogen oxide when heated to a temperature of 150 degrees Celsius, and isoprene when heated to 350 degrees Celsius.

The creators of the device note that the connection of several sensors in one device will allow in the future to diagnose the flu in a patient at an early stage, as well as to track changes in the concentration of different substances in the breath. At the moment, the system, which consists of three sensors with a built-in reading circuit and a heater control circuit, is rather the first step towards full-fledged wireless respiratory tubes for infection detection. Nevertheless, scientists say that the production of such devices does not require large monetary expenditures, which means that in the future, after some improvements, it may appear in pharmacies. Patients will be able to bring the device home, exhale air to the sensor system, after which the data will be transmitted to the central system for interpretation.

Recently, American scientists have created a universal sensor that can measure the concentration of target molecules in the blood in real time. In the future, it will help pharmacologists to see how quickly the drug is absorbed, and physiologists to track the spread of hormones and metabolites in the blood.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  02.02.2017