Units involved:
University of Siena Coordinator PI: Prof. Marco Mugnaini
University of Pavia PI: Prof. Piero Malcovati
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia PI: Prof. Luigi Rovati
Progetto PRIN PNRR 2022
Titolo: Portable device for Photoacoustic
sensing of breath biomarkers
Problem Statement
In studies on human breath, more than 3000 different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particles have been detected, where most of the VOCs are at low concentrations, i.e., from ppm to ppb or even to ppt. Only a small number of VOCs are common to everyone (isoprene, acetone, ethane, and methanol), which are products of metabolic processes. Some of these (ethane, n-pentane, butane, ethanol, acetone) have been identified as breath biomarkers. In addition to these VOCs, exhaled nitric oxide, hydrogen, methane, ammonia, and carbon monoxide are related to health conditions and can reflect an individual potential illness or a recent exposure to a drug or an environmental pollutant. As shown in Figure, the presence of trace gasses or volatile metabolites in exhaled is linked to a variety of pathologies including kidney and liver disease, asthma, diabetes, cancer, ulcers and neurologic disorders. In this context, the exhaled sampling and analysis is a source of great attraction in the areas of medical diagnosis and disease monitoring.
Proposed Measuring System
In
our project, some specific gasses acting as active markers even in very low
concentrations can be identified and measured in terms of concentrations. The
measured concentrations can therefore be exploited as meaningful indicators of
the disease presence and progression over time.
