Markers of Lipid Oxidative Damage in the Exhaled Breath Condensate of Nano TiO2 Production Workers.

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelclová, D.; Ždímal, Vladimír; Kačer, P.; Zíková, Naděžda; Komarc, M.; Fenclová, Z.; Vlčková, Š.; Schwarz, Jaroslav; Makeš, Otakar; Syslová, K.; Navrátil, Tomáš; Turci, F.; Corazzari, I.; Zakharov, S.; Bello, D.

2017-01-01

Roč. 11, č. 1 (2017), s. 52-63 ISSN 1743-5390 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GBP503/12/G147 Institutional support: RVO:67985858 ; RVO:61388955 Keywords : exhaled breath condensate * aldehydes * oxidative stress * occupational exposure * monitoring Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality; CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry (UFCH-W) OBOR OECD: Public and environmental health; Physical chemistry (UFCH-W) Impact factor: 6.428, year: 2016

Oxidative Stress Markers Are Elevated in Exhaled Breath Condensate of Workers Exposed to Nanoparticles during Iron Oxide Pigment Production.

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelclová, D.; Ždímal, Vladimír; Kačer, P.; Fenclová, Z.; Vlčková, Š.; Syslová, K.; Navrátil, Tomáš; Schwarz, Jaroslav; Zíková, Naděžda; Barošová, H.; Turci, F.; Komarc, M.; Pelcl, T.; Běláček, J.; Kukutschová, J.; Zakharov, S.

2016-01-01

Roč. 10, č. 1 (2016), s. 016004 ISSN 1752-7155 Institutional support: RVO:67985858 ; RVO:61388955 Keywords : nanoparticles * exhaled breath condensate * oxidative stress * urine * occupational exposure * Fe2O3 * Fe3O4 Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality; CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry (UFCH-W) Impact factor: 4.318, year: 2016

Leukotrienes B4, C4, D4 and E4 in the Exhaled Breath Condensate (EBC), Blood and Urine in Patients with Pneumoconiosis

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelclová, D.; Fenclová, Z.; Vlčková, Š.; Lebedová, J.; Syslová, K.; Pecha, O.; Běláček, J.; Navrátil, Tomáš; Kuzma, Marek; Kačer, P.

2012-01-01

Roč. 50, č. 4 (2012), s. 299-306 ISSN 0019-8366 Institutional support: RVO:61388955 ; RVO:61388971 Keywords : leukotrienes * Lung fibrosis * exhaled breath condensate Subject RIV: CG - Electrochemistry Impact factor: 0.870, year: 2012

Potential of Mass Spectrometry in Developing Clinical Laboratory Biomarkers of Nonvolatiles in Exhaled Breath.

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, Olof; Olin, Anna-Carin; Mirgorodskaya, Ekaterina

2016-01-01

Exhaled breath contains nonvolatile substances that are part of aerosol particles of submicrometer size. These particles are formed and exhaled as a result of normal breathing and contain material from distal airways of the respiratory system. Exhaled breath can be used to monitor biomarkers of both endogenous and exogenous origin and constitutes an attractive specimen for medical investigations. This review summarizes the present status regarding potential biomarkers of nonvolatile compounds in exhaled breath. The field of exhaled breath condensate is briefly reviewed, together with more recent work on more selective collection procedures for exhaled particles. The relation of these particles to the surfactant in the terminal parts of the respiratory system is described. The literature on potential endogenous low molecular weight compounds as well as protein biomarkers is reviewed. The possibility to measure exposure to therapeutic and abused drugs is demonstrated. Finally, the potential future role and importance of mass spectrometry is discussed. Nonvolatile compounds exit the lung as aerosol particles that can be sampled easily and selectively. The clinical applications of potential biomarkers in exhaled breath comprise diagnosis of disease, monitoring of disease progress, monitoring of drug therapy, and toxicological investigations. © 2015 American Association for Clinical Chemistry.

Exhaled breath condensate nitrates, but not nitrites or FENO, relate to asthma control.

Science.gov (United States)

Malinovschi, Andrei; Pizzimenti, Stefano; Sciascia, Savino; Heffler, Enrico; Badiu, Iuliana; Rolla, Giovanni

2011-07-01

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease, characterised by airways inflammation, obstruction and hyperresponsiveness. Asthma control is the goal of asthma treatment, but many patients have sub-optimal control. Exhaled NO and exhaled breath condensate (EBC) NO metabolites (nitrites and nitrates) measurements are non-invasive tools to assess airways inflammation. Our aim was to investigate the relationships between asthma control and the above-named biomarkers of airways inflammation. Thirty-nine non-smoking asthmatic patients (19 women) aged 50 (21-80) years performed measurements of exhaled NO (FENO), EBC nitrates, nitrites and pH, and answered Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) and Asthma Control Test (ACT)-questionnaire. The ACT and ACQ score were strongly interrelated (ρ = -0.84, p 0.05). EBC nitrates were negatively related to ACT score (ρ = -0.34, p = 0.03) and positively related to ACQ score (ρ = 0.41, p = 0.001) while no relation of EBC nitrites to either ACQ or ACT score was found (p>0.05). EBC nitrates were the only biomarker that was significantly related to asthma control. This suggests that nitrates, but not nitrites or FENO, reflect an aspect of airways inflammation that is closer related to asthma symptoms. Therefore there is a potential role for EBC nitrates in objective assessment of asthma control. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of oxidative stress using exhaled breath 8-isoprostane ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: There have been limited numbers of studies on patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) to determine oxidative stress in exhaled breath condensate (EBC). Those two studies have been carried out on hemodialysis patients, and hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide have been studied in order to show ...

MicroRNA7 expression in exhaled breath condensate of smokers with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A potential biomarker?

OpenAIRE

Nevine Abd Elfattah; R. Ali-Labib

2017-01-01

Rationale: The global burden of lung cancer is attributed to its poor outcome as it is usually discovered in an advanced stage therefore the constant search for screening protocols among the high risk groups like smokers and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Biomarker testing in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) samples is a simple inexpensive non invasive method. Many previous researches linked the dys-Regulation of microRNAs to the development of lung carcinogenesis. Consequently ...

Nitrites and nitrates in exhaled breath condensate in cystic fibrosis: relation to clinical parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Fila, L; Chladek, J; Maly, M; Musil, J

2013-01-01

To evaluate correlation of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) nitrite and nitrate concentrations with disease severity in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Nitrites and nitrates are products of oxidative metabolism of nitric oxide. Impaired metabolism of nitric oxide plays a role in pathogenesis of CF. EBC was collected from 46 stable CF patients and from 21 healthy controls. EBC concentrations of nitrites and nitrates were correlated with parameters of lung disease and nutritional status and with systemic inflammatory markers. EBC nitrates concentrations in CF patients were lower than in healthy subjects (5.8 vs 14.3 μmol/l, pnitrates concentrations correlate with disease severity in CF patients and are lower than in healthy subjects (Tab. 4, Fig. 1, Ref. 48).

Diseño y evaluación de un equipo para obtener aire espirado condensado Design and evaluation of a device for collecting exhaled breath condensate

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Oscar Florencio Araneda Valenzuela

2009-01-01

Full Text Available El análisis de muestras de aire espirado condensado ha cobrado gran relevancia en los últimos años como método no invasivo de estudio de la fisiología y las enfermedades de origen pulmonar. En el presente trabajo se describe un equipo para tomar muestras de aire espirado condensado de bajo costo, fácil de fabricar, de transportar al terreno y que permite tomar muestras en forma simultánea. La concentración de metabolitos relativos a procesos inflamatorios y al daño oxidativo (pH, peróxido de hidrógeno y nitrito de muestras de aire espirado condensado obtenido con este equipo son comparables a los reportados con otros previamente.In recent years, the analysis of exhaled breath condensate samples has been given great weight as a noninvasive methodology of studying physiology and lung diseases. The present study describes a device for measuring exhaled breath condensate that is affordable, easily constructed, portable and suitable for use in the field, as well as allowing the collection of simultaneous samples. The results obtained with this device in terms of the concentrations of pH, peroxide oxide and nitrite, metabolites related to inflammatory and oxidative damage, in exhaled breath condensate samples are comparable to those obtained with other devices previously described.

Toward a hydrogen peroxide sensor for exhaled breath analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wiedemair, Justyna; van Dorp, Henriëtte; Olthuis, Wouter; van den Berg, Albert

2011-01-01

In this contribution a chip-integrated amperometric sensor for the detection of H2O2 in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is reported. The electrode chip is characterized, and detection of H2O2 in an aqueous phase is shown by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and amperometry. Variation of conditions

Comparison of Select Analytes in Exhaled Aerosol from E-Cigarettes with Exhaled Smoke from a Conventional Cigarette and Exhaled Breaths

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Gerald A. Long

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Exhaled aerosols were collected following the use of two leading U.S. commercial electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes and a conventional cigarette by human subjects and analyzed for phenolics, carbonyls, water, glycerin and nicotine using a vacuum-assisted filter pad capture system. Exhaled breath blanks were determined for each subject prior to each product use and aerosol collection session. Distribution and mass balance of exhaled e-cigarette aerosol composition was greater than 99.9% water and glycerin, and a small amount (<0.06% of nicotine. Total phenolic content in exhaled e-cigarette aerosol was not distinguishable from exhaled breath blanks, while total phenolics in exhaled cigarette smoke were significantly greater than in exhaled e-cigarette aerosol and exhaled breaths, averaging 66 µg/session (range 36 to 117 µg/session. The total carbonyls in exhaled e-cigarette aerosols were also not distinguishable from exhaled breaths or room air blanks. Total carbonyls in exhaled cigarette smoke was significantly greater than in exhaled e-cigarette aerosols, exhaled breath and room air blanks, averaging 242 µg/session (range 136 to 352 µg/session. These results indicate that exhaled e-cigarette aerosol does not increase bystander exposure for phenolics and carbonyls above the levels observed in exhaled breaths of air.

Exercise in cold air and hydrogen peroxide release in exhaled breath condensate.

Science.gov (United States)

Marek, E; Volke, J; Mückenhoff, K; Platen, P; Marek, W

2013-01-01

Athletes have changes in the lung epithelial cells caused by inhalation of cold and dry air. The exhaled breath condensate contains a number of mediators from the respiratory system and H(2)O(2) is described as a marker of airways inflammation. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of exercise combined with cold air on the H(2)O(2) release in the exhaled breath. Twelve males (23.1 ± 1.5 years) were randomly assigned at 2 different days (1 day rest) to perform a 50 min run (75-80% of their max. heart rate) under normal (N) laboratory (18.1 ± 1.1°C) or cold (C) field condition (-15.2 ± 3.1°C). Before and immediately after each run, the EBC was collected under laboratory conditions and was analyzed amperometrically. Prior to the two runs, H(2)O(2) concentrations were 145.0 ± 31.0 (N) and 160.0 ± 49.1 nmol/L (C) and theoretical release was 70.3 ± 37.1 (N) and 82.6 ± 27.1 pmol/min (C) (p > 0.05). After each run, H(2)O(2) concentration increased significantly to 388.0 ± 22.8 nmol/L (N) and 622.1 ± 44.2 nmol/L (C) (p release: 249.2 ± 35.7 pmol/min (N) and 400.9 ± 35.7 pmol/min (C) (p release of H(2)O(2) into the EBC takes place under both resting conditions and after exercise. The concentration and release of H(2)O(2) increased after exercise in cold air compared to resting and laboratory conditions, which points to an increase in inflammatory and oxidative stress.

LC-MS/MS Estimation of Propranolol level in Exhaled Breath Condensate

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Samin Hamidi 1, Maryam Amini 2, Maryam Khoubnasabjafari 3, Vahid Jouyban-Gharamaleki 4,5, Hossein Sate 6, Abolghasem Jouyban 5,7 *

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Exhaled breath condensate (EBC could be used as a non-invasive and alternative specimen to urine and blood for monitoring propranolol levels. A simple, sensitive and selective liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS method is employed for the determination of propranolol in EBC samples. Methods: Samples directly injected to a C18 analytical column and isocratically separated using a mobile phase composed of methanol + acetic acid (99:1 v/v. Detection was performed by positive electrospray ionization in multiple reaction monitoring and selected ion recording modes. Results: The chromatographic separation was obtained within 6.0 min and was linear over the concentration range of 5.6–224.0 ng/mL (R2 = 0.999. The accuracy and precision of the method were within 15% according to FDA guideline. The found concentrations of propranolol in EBC of two patients receiving 80 mg/day were 30 and 40 ng/mL. Conclusion: Developed method was applied to determine propranolol levels in three patients receiving propranolol in their medication. The obtained propranolol levels in EBC could be used to develop simpler, cheaper and more feasible analytical methods to be used in routine analysis of propranolol in biomedical analytical laboratories.

Effects of condensate in the exhalation limb of neonatal circuits on airway pressure during bubble CPAP.

Science.gov (United States)

Youngquist, Tiffany M; Richardson, C Peter; Diblasi, Robert M

2013-11-01

Bubble CPAP is frequently used in spontaneously breathing infants with lung disease. Often bubble CPAP systems lack pressure alarms and pressure-release valves. We observed a large volume of condensate in the exhalation limb of a patient circuit and conducted a series of experiments to test the hypothesis that accumulated condensate could affect delivered pressures. An anatomically accurate nasal airway model of a preterm infant was attached to a spontaneously breathing lung model. A bubble CPAP system was attached to the nasal airway with bi-nasal short prongs, and the rate of fluid condensation was measured. Next, tracheal pressures were monitored digitally to detect changes in airway pressure related to condensate accumulation. Measurements were obtained with volumes of 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mL of water in the exhalation limb, at flows of 4, 6, 8, and 10 L/min. Measurements with 20 mL in the exhalation limb were recorded with and without a pressure-relief valve in the circuit. The rate of condensate accumulation was 3.8 mL/h. At volumes of ≥ 10 mL, noticeable alterations in the airway pressure waveforms and significant increases in mean tracheal pressure were observed. The pressure-relief valve effectively attenuated peak tracheal pressure, but only decreased mean pressure by 0.5-1.5 cm H2O. Condensate in the exhalation limb of the patient circuit during bubble CPAP can significantly increase pressure delivered to the patient. The back and forth movement of this fluid causes oscillations in airway pressure that are much greater than the oscillations created by gas bubbling out the exhalation tube into the water bath. We recommend continuously monitoring pressure at the nasal airway interface, placing an adjustable pressure-relief valve in the circuit, set to 5 cm H2O above the desired mean pressure, and emptying fluid from the exhalation limb every 2-3 hours.

Aspirin provocation increases 8-iso-PGE2 in exhaled breath condensate of aspirin-hypersensitive asthmatics.

Science.gov (United States)

Mastalerz, Lucyna; Januszek, Rafał; Kaszuba, Marek; Wójcik, Krzysztof; Celejewska-Wójcik, Natalia; Gielicz, Anna; Plutecka, Hanna; Oleś, Krzysztof; Stręk, Paweł; Sanak, Marek

2015-09-01

Isoprostanes are bioactive compounds formed by non-enzymatic oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, mostly arachidonic, and markers of free radical generation during inflammation. In aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD), asthmatic symptoms are precipitated by ingestion of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs capable for pharmacologic inhibition of cyclooxygenase-1 isoenzyme. We investigated whether aspirin-provoked bronchoconstriction is accompanied by changes of isoprostanes in exhaled breath condensate (EBC). EBC was collected from 28 AERD subjects and 25 aspirin-tolerant asthmatics before and after inhalatory aspirin challenge. Concentrations of 8-iso-PGF2α, 8-iso-PGE2, and prostaglandin E2 were measured using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Leukotriene E4 was measured by immunoassay in urine samples collected before and after the challenge. Before the challenge, exhaled 8-iso-PGF2α, 8-iso-PGE2, and PGE2 levels did not differ between the study groups. 8-iso-PGE2 level increased in AERD group only (p=0.014) as a result of the aspirin challenge. Urinary LTE4 was elevated in AERD, both in baseline and post-challenge samples. Post-challenge airways 8-iso-PGE2 correlated positively with urinary LTE4 level (p=0.046), whereas it correlated negatively with the provocative dose of aspirin (p=0.027). A significant increase of exhaled 8-iso-PGE2 after inhalatory challenge with aspirin was selective and not present for the other isoprostane measured. This is a novel finding in AERD, suggesting that inhibition of cyclooxygenase may elicit 8-iso-PGE2 production in a specific mechanism, contributing to bronchoconstriction and systemic overproduction of cysteinyl leukotrienes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Exhaled Breath for Disease Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Amann, Anton; Miekisch, Wolfram; Schubert, Jochen; Buszewski, Bogusław; Ligor, Tomasz; Jezierski, Tadeusz; Pleil, Joachim; Risby, Terence

2014-06-01

Breath analysis is a young field of research with great clinical potential. As a result of this interest, researchers have developed new analytical techniques that permit real-time analysis of exhaled breath with breath-to-breath resolution in addition to the conventional central laboratory methods using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Breath tests are based on endogenously produced volatiles, metabolites of ingested precursors, metabolites produced by bacteria in the gut or the airways, or volatiles appearing after environmental exposure. The composition of exhaled breath may contain valuable information for patients presenting with asthma, renal and liver diseases, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory lung disease, or metabolic disorders. In addition, oxidative stress status may be monitored via volatile products of lipid peroxidation. Measurement of enzyme activity provides phenotypic information important in personalized medicine, whereas breath measurements provide insight into perturbations of the human exposome and can be interpreted as preclinical signals of adverse outcome pathways.

Diagnostic value of a pattern of exhaled breath condensate biomarkers in asthmatic children.

Science.gov (United States)

Maloča Vuljanko, I; Turkalj, M; Nogalo, B; Bulat Lokas, S; Plavec, D

Diagnosing asthma in children is a challenge and using a single biomarker from exhaled breath condensate (EBC) showed the lack of improvement in it. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic potential of a pattern of simple chemical biomarkers from EBC in diagnosing asthma in children in a real-life setting, its association with lung function and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In 75 consecutive children aged 5-7 years with asthma-like symptoms the following tests were performed: skin prick tests, spirometry, impulse oscillometry (IOS), exhaled NO (F E NO), 24-hour oesophageal pH monitoring and EBC collection with subsequent analysis of pH, carbon dioxide tension, oxygen tension, and concentrations of magnesium, calcium, iron and urates. No significant differences were found for individual EBC biomarkers between asthmatics and non-asthmatics (p>0.05 for all). A pattern of six EBC biomarkers showed a statistically significant (p=0.046) predictive model for asthma (AUC=0.698, PPV=84.2%, NPV=38.9%). None to moderate association (R 2 up to 0.43) between EBC biomarkers and lung function measures and F E NO was found, with IOS parameters showing the best association with EBC biomarkers. A significantly higher EBC Fe was found in children with asthma and GERD compared to asthmatics without GERD (p=0.049). An approach that involves a pattern of EBC biomarkers had a better diagnostic accuracy for asthma in children in real-life settings compared to a single one. Poor to moderate association of EBC biomarkers with lung function suggests a complementary value of EBC analysis for asthma diagnosis in children. Copyright © 2016 SEICAP. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Manganese in exhaled breath condensate: a new marker of exposure to welding fumes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hulo, Sébastien; Chérot-Kornobis, Nathalie; Howsam, Mike; Crucq, Sébastien; de Broucker, Virginie; Sobaszek, Annie; Edme, Jean-Louis

2014-04-07

To evaluate manganese in exhaled breath condensate (Mn-EBC) as an indicator of exposure to fumes from metal inert gas welding process. We collected EBC and urine from 17 welders and 16 unexposed control subjects after 5 days exposure. Concentrations of manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), iron (Fe) and chromium (Cr) were measured in EBC and urine samples and correlated with cumulative exposure indices for the working week (CIW) and for the total welding years (WY), based on duration of welding activity and atmospheric metal measurements. Concentrations of Mn and Ni in EBC were significantly higher among welders than controls whereas this difference was not significant for Mn in urine. Levels of Mn and Ni in EBC were not correlated with their respective levels in urine. The linear regressions found significant positive coefficients between Mn-EBC, Ni-EBC, Ni-U and Cr-U concentrations and the cumulative exposure indices. Taking into account tobacco use, statistical analysis showed the same trends except for the relationship between Mn-U and CIW. This pilot study showed that Mn-EBC, as well as Ni-EBC, can serve as reliable indices of occupational exposure to welding fumes and provide complimentary toxicokinetic information to that provided by urine analyses. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimization of sampling parameters for standardized exhaled breath sampling.

Science.gov (United States)

Doran, Sophie; Romano, Andrea; Hanna, George B

2017-09-05

The lack of standardization of breath sampling is a major contributing factor to the poor repeatability of results and hence represents a barrier to the adoption of breath tests in clinical practice. On-line and bag breath sampling have advantages but do not suit multicentre clinical studies whereas storage and robust transport are essential for the conduct of wide-scale studies. Several devices have been developed to control sampling parameters and to concentrate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) onto thermal desorption (TD) tubes and subsequently transport those tubes for laboratory analysis. We conducted three experiments to investigate (i) the fraction of breath sampled (whole vs. lower expiratory exhaled breath); (ii) breath sample volume (125, 250, 500 and 1000ml) and (iii) breath sample flow rate (400, 200, 100 and 50 ml/min). The target VOCs were acetone and potential volatile biomarkers for oesophago-gastric cancer belonging to the aldehyde, fatty acids and phenol chemical classes. We also examined the collection execution time and the impact of environmental contamination. The experiments showed that the use of exhaled breath-sampling devices requires the selection of optimum sampling parameters. The increase in sample volume has improved the levels of VOCs detected. However, the influence of the fraction of exhaled breath and the flow rate depends on the target VOCs measured. The concentration of potential volatile biomarkers for oesophago-gastric cancer was not significantly different between the whole and lower airway exhaled breath. While the recovery of phenols and acetone from TD tubes was lower when breath sampling was performed at a higher flow rate, other VOCs were not affected. A dedicated 'clean air supply' overcomes the contamination from ambient air, but the breath collection device itself can be a source of contaminants. In clinical studies using VOCs to diagnose gastro-oesophageal cancer, the optimum parameters are 500mls sample volume

Analysis of human exhaled breath in a population of young volunteers

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Zarić Božidarka

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs in human breath can provide information about the current physiological state of an individual, such as clinical conditions and exposure to exogenous pollutants. The blood-borne VOCs present in exhaled breath offer the possibility of exploring physiological and pathological processes in a noninvasive way. However, the field of exhaled breath analysis is still in its infancy. We undertook this study in order to define interindividual variation and common compounds in breath VOCs of 48 young human volunteers. Alveolar breath samples were analyzed by automated thermal desorption, gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (FID and electron capture detector (ECD using SUPELCO standards with 66 compounds. Predominant compounds in the alveolar breath of analyzed subjects are ethylbenzene, 1-ethyl-4-methylbenzene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (over 50% of the subjects. Isopropyl alcohol, propylene, acetone, ethanol were found as well. We detected substituted compounds in exhaled breath. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 172001

Analysis of aldehydes in human exhaled breath condensates by in-tube SPME-HPLC.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, ShuLing; Hu, Sheng; Xu, Hui

2015-11-05

In this paper, polypyrrole/graphene (PPy/G) composite coating was prepared by a facile electrochemical polymerization strategy on the inner surface of a stainless steel (SS) tube. Based on the coating tube, a novel online in-tube solid-phase microextraction -high performance liquid chromatography (IT-SPME-HPLC) was developed and applied for the extraction of aldehydes in the human exhaled breath condensates (EBC). The hybrid PPy/G nanocomposite exhibits remarkable chemical and mechanical stability, high selectivity, and satisfactory extraction performance toward aldehyde compounds. Moreover, the proposed online IT-SPME-HPLC method possesses numerous superiorities, such as time and cost saving, process simplicity, high precision and sensitivity. Some parameters related to extraction efficiency were optimized systematically. Under the optimal conditions, the recoveries of the aldehyde compounds at three spiked concentration levels varied in the range of 85%-117%. Good linearity was obtained with excellent correlation coefficients (R(2)) being larger than 0.994. The relative standard deviations (n = 5) of the method ranged from 1.8% to 11.3% and the limits of detection were between 2.3 and 3.3 nmol L(-1). The successful application of the proposed method in human EBC indicated that it is a promising approach for the determination of trace aldehyde metabolites in complex EBC samples. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exhaled breath condensate cysteinyl leukotrienes and airway remodeling in childhood asthma: a pilot study

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Kharitonov Sergei A

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background It has been suggested that cysteinyl leukotrienes (cysLTs play an important role in airway remodeling. Previous reports have indicated that cysLTs augment human airway smooth muscle cell proliferation. Recently, cysLTs have been measured in exhaled breath condensate (EBC. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between cysLTs in EBC and another marker of airway remodeling, reticular basement membrane (RBM thickening, in endobronchial biopsies in children. Methods 29 children, aged 4–15 years, with moderate to severe persistent asthma, who underwent bronchoscopy as part of their clinical assessment, were included. Subjects underwent spirometry and EBC collection for cysLTs analysis, followed by bronchoscopy and endobronchial biopsy within 24 hours. Results EBC cysLTs were significantly lower in asthmatic children who were treated with montelukast than in those who were not (median (interquartile range 36.62 (22.60–101.05 versus 249.1 (74.21–526.36 pg/ml, p = 0.004. There was a significant relationship between EBC cysLTs and RBM thickness in the subgroup of children who were not treated with montelukast (n = 13, r = 0.75, p = 0.003. Conclusion EBC cysLTs appear to be associated with RBM thickening in asthma.

Study of exhaled breath condensate sample preparation for metabolomics analysis by LC-MS/MS in high resolution mode.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Peralbo, M A; Calderón Santiago, M; Priego-Capote, F; Luque de Castro, M D

2015-11-01

Metabolomic analysis of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) requires an unavoidable sample preparation step because of the low concentration of its components, and potential cleanup for possible interferents. Sample preparation based on protein precipitation (PP), solid-phase extraction (SPE) by hydrophilic and lipophilic sorbents or lyophilization has demonstrated that the analytical sample from the last is largely the best because lyophilization allows reconstitution in a volume as small as required (preconcentration factors up to 80-times with respect to the original sample), thus doubling the number of detected compounds as compared with the other alternatives (47 versus 25). In addition, PP and/or SPE cleanup are unnecessary as no effect from the EBC components removed by these steps appears in the chromatograms. The total 49 EBC compounds tentatively identified and confirmed by MS/MS in this research include amino acids, fatty acids, fatty amides, fatty aldehydes, sphingoid bases, oxoanionic compounds, imidazoles, hydroxy acids and aliphatic acyclic acids. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Determining urea levels in exhaled breath condensate with minimal preparation steps and classic LC-MS.

Science.gov (United States)

Pitiranggon, Masha; Perzanowski, Matthew S; Kinney, Patrick L; Xu, Dongqun; Chillrud, Steven N; Yan, Beizhan

2014-10-01

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) provides a relatively easy, non-invasive method for measuring biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in the airways. However, the levels of these biomarkers in EBC are influenced, not only by their levels in lung lining fluid but also by the volume of water vapor that also condenses during EBC collection. For this reason, the use of a biomarker of dilution has been recommended. Urea has been proposed and utilized as a promising dilution biomarker due to its even distribution throughout the body and relatively low volatility. Current EBC urea analytical methods either are not sensitive enough, necessitating large volumes of EBC, or are labor intensive, requiring a derivatization step or other pretreatment. We report here a straightforward and reliable LC-MS approach that we developed that does not require derivatization or large sample volume (∼36 µL). An Acclaim mixed-mode hydrophilic interaction chromatography column was selected because it can produce good peak symmetry and efficiently separate urea from other polar and nonpolar compounds. To achieve a high recovery rate, a slow and incomplete evaporation method was used followed by a solvent-phase exchange. Among EBC samples collected from 28 children, urea levels were found to be highly variable, with a relative standard deviation of 234%, suggesting high variability in dilution of the lung lining fluid component of EBC. The limit of detection was found to be 0.036 µg/mL. Published by Oxford University Press [2013]. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

Evaluation of oxidative status with exhaled breath 8-isoprostane levels in patients with hyperthyroidism.

Science.gov (United States)

Bastug, Emrah; Tasliyurt, Turker; Kutluturk, Faruk; Sahin, Safak; Yilmaz, Ayse; Sivgin, Hakan; Yelken, Berna Murat; Ozturk, Banu; Yilmaz, Abdulkerim; Sahin, Semsettin

2013-12-01

Studies conducted so far on the effect of hyperthyroidism on oxidative stress (OS) have employed blood and urine samples. Exhaled Breath Condensate (EBC) is a non-invasive technique used to take sample from lungs to determine many biological indications. The aim of the present study was determine the possibility of using 8- isoprostane levels in EBC as an indicator of OS in hyperthyroid patients. The present study was performed on 42 patients with hyperthyroidism and 42 healthy control subjects. Hyperthyroid patients included patients with newly diagnosed Graves' disease, toxic multinodular goiter and toxic adenoma. Exhaled breath condensates were collected from patients in each group using a condensing device. 8- isoprostane levels as an indicator of OS in EBC were detected via immunoassay method. Hyperthyroid patients and control groups had 8-isoprostane levels of 6.08±6.31 and 1.56±0.88 pg/ml, respectively. The difference between patient and control groups was statistically significant (phyperthyroid patients, eleven had Graves', 21 multinodular goiter, and 10 toxic adenoma diagnosis. There were no significant differences among patients of different diagnoses for 8-isoprostane levels (p=0.541). No significant correlations were found between 8-isoprostane and free thyroxine (fT4) or thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. In the present study, 8-isoprostane levels in EBC of hyperthyroid patients were found to be significantly higher than that in healthy control group. This study is important in that it is the first to evaluate the effects on respiratory system of elevated OS of hyperthyroidism in EBC.

Bioanalysis of underivatized amino acids in non-invasive exhaled breath condensate samples using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry.

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Konieczna, Lucyna; Pyszka, Magdalena; Okońska, Magdalena; Niedźwiecki, Maciej; Bączek, Tomasz

2018-03-23

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is receiving increased attention as a novel, entirely non-invasive technique for collecting biomarker samples. This increased attention is due to the fact that EBC is simple, effort independent, rapid, can be repeated frequently, and can be performed on young children and patients suffering from a variety of diseases. By having a subject breathe tidally through a cooling system for 15-20 min, a sufficient amount of condensate is collected for analysis of biomarkers in clinical studies. However, bioanalysis of EBC involves an unavoidable sample preparation step due to the low concentration of its components. Thus, there is a need for a new and more sensitive analytical method of assessing EBC samples. While researchers have considered analyses of single and small quantities of amino acids - for example, those connected with leukemia - no one has previously attempted to simultaneously analyze a panel of 23 amino acids. Moreover, the present study is well-justified, as prior studies focusing on single amino acids and leukemia at the moment of diagnosis and during chemotherapy (33 days of treatment) are inconsistent. In the present study, amino acids were separated using an XBridge Amide column (3 mm × 100 mm, 3.5 μm). The mobile phase consisted of 10 mM of ammonium buffer in water with a pH of 3 (Phase A) and 10 mM ammonium buffer in acetonitrile (Phase B) under gradient program elution. The analytes were detected in electrospray positive ionization mode. Under optimal conditions, the proposed method exhibited limits of quantification (LOQ) in the range of 0.05-0.5 ng/mL, and good linearity, with the determination coefficient (R 2 ) falling between 0.9904 and 0.9998. The accuracy in human exhaled breath condensate samples ranged between 93.3-113.3% for the 23 studied amino acids, with intra- and inter-day coefficient of variation (CVs) of 0.13-9.92% and 0.17-10.53%, respectively. To demonstrate the liquid

Aluminum gallium nitride (GaN)/GaN high electron mobility transistor-based sensors for glucose detection in exhaled breath condensate.

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Chu, Byung Hwan; Kang, Byoung Sam; Hung, Sheng Chun; Chen, Ke Hung; Ren, Fan; Sciullo, Andrew; Gila, Brent P; Pearton, Stephen J

2010-01-01

Immobilized aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN)/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) have shown great potential in the areas of pH, chloride ion, and glucose detection in exhaled breath condensate (EBC). HEMT sensors can be integrated into a wireless data transmission system that allows for remote monitoring. This technology offers the possibility of using AlGaN/GaN HEMTs for extended investigations of airway pathology of detecting glucose in EBC without the need for clinical visits. HEMT structures, consisting of a 3-microm-thick undoped GaN buffer, 30-A-thick Al(0.3)Ga(0.7)N spacer, and 220-A-thick silicon-doped Al(0.3)Ga(0.7)N cap layer, were used for fabricating the HEMT sensors. The gate area of the pH, chloride ion, and glucose detection was immobilized with scandium oxide (Sc(2)O(3)), silver chloride (AgCl) thin film, and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods, respectively. The Sc(2)O(3)-gated sensor could detect the pH of solutions ranging from 3 to 10 with a resolution of approximately 0.1 pH. A chloride ion detection limit of 10(-8) M was achieved with a HEMT sensor immobilized with the AgCl thin film. The drain-source current of the ZnO nanorod-gated AlGaN/GaN HEMT sensor immobilized with glucose oxidase showed a rapid response of less than 5 seconds when the sensor was exposed to the target glucose in a buffer with a pH value of 7.4. The sensor could detect a wide range of concentrations from 0.5 nM to 125 microM. There is great promise for using HEMT-based sensors to enhance the detection sensitivity for glucose detection in EBC. Depending on the immobilized material, HEMT-based sensors can be used for sensing different materials. These electronic detection approaches with rapid response and good repeatability show potential for the investigation of airway pathology. The devices can also be integrated into a wireless data transmission system for remote monitoring applications. This sensor technology could use the exhaled breath condensate to measure the

CONTINUOUS EXHALED BREATH ANALYSIS ON THE ICU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bos, Lieuwe D. J.; Sterk, Peter J.; Schultz, Marcus J.

2011-01-01

During admittance to the ICU, critically ill patients frequently develop secondary infections and/or multiple organ failure. Continuous monitoring of biological markers is very much needed. This study describes a new method to continuously monitor biomarkers in exhaled breath with an electronic nose.

Comparison of Ambient and Atmospheric Pressure Ion Sources for Cystic Fibrosis Exhaled Breath Condensate Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry Metabolomics

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Zang, Xiaoling; Pérez, José J.; Jones, Christina M.; Monge, María Eugenia; McCarty, Nael A.; Stecenko, Arlene A.; Fernández, Facundo M.

2017-08-01

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the gene that encodes the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. The vast majority of the mortality is due to progressive lung disease. Targeted and untargeted CF breath metabolomics investigations via exhaled breath condensate (EBC) analyses have the potential to expose metabolic alterations associated with CF pathology and aid in assessing the effectiveness of CF therapies. Here, transmission-mode direct analysis in real time traveling wave ion mobility spectrometry time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TM-DART-TWIMS-TOF MS) was tested as a high-throughput alternative to conventional direct infusion (DI) electrospray ionization (ESI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) methods, and a critical comparison of the three ionization methods was conducted. EBC was chosen as the noninvasive surrogate for airway sampling over expectorated sputum as EBC can be collected in all CF subjects regardless of age and lung disease severity. When using pooled EBC collected from a healthy control, ESI detected the most metabolites, APCI a log order less, and TM-DART the least. TM-DART-TWIMS-TOF MS was used to profile metabolites in EBC samples from five healthy controls and four CF patients, finding that a panel of three discriminant EBC metabolites, some of which had been previously detected by other methods, differentiated these two classes with excellent cross-validated accuracy.

Combined sensing platform for advanced diagnostics in exhaled mouse breath

Science.gov (United States)

Fortes, Paula R.; Wilk, Andreas; Seichter, Felicia; Cajlakovic, Merima; Koestler, Stefan; Ribitsch, Volker; Wachter, Ulrich; Vogt, Josef; Radermacher, Peter; Carter, Chance; Raimundo, Ivo M.; Mizaikoff, Boris

2013-03-01

Breath analysis is an attractive non-invasive strategy for early disease recognition or diagnosis, and for therapeutic progression monitoring, as quantitative compositional analysis of breath can be related to biomarker panels provided by a specific physiological condition invoked by e.g., pulmonary diseases, lung cancer, breast cancer, and others. As exhaled breath contains comprehensive information on e.g., the metabolic state, and since in particular volatile organic constituents (VOCs) in exhaled breath may be indicative of certain disease states, analytical techniques for advanced breath diagnostics should be capable of sufficient molecular discrimination and quantification of constituents at ppm-ppb - or even lower - concentration levels. While individual analytical techniques such as e.g., mid-infrared spectroscopy may provide access to a range of relevant molecules, some IR-inactive constituents require the combination of IR sensing schemes with orthogonal analytical tools for extended molecular coverage. Combining mid-infrared hollow waveguides (HWGs) with luminescence sensors (LS) appears particularly attractive, as these complementary analytical techniques allow to simultaneously analyze total CO2 (via luminescence), the 12CO2/13CO2 tracer-to-tracee (TTR) ratio (via IR), selected VOCs (via IR) and O2 (via luminescence) in exhaled breath, yet, establishing a single diagnostic platform as both sensors simultaneously interact with the same breath sample volume. In the present study, we take advantage of a particularly compact (shoebox-size) FTIR spectrometer combined with novel substrate-integrated hollow waveguide (iHWG) recently developed by our research team, and miniaturized fiberoptic luminescence sensors for establishing a multi-constituent breath analysis tool that is ideally compatible with mouse intensive care stations (MICU). Given the low tidal volume and flow of exhaled mouse breath, the TTR is usually determined after sample collection via gas

New method for determination of trihalomethanes in exhaled breath: Applications to swimming pool and bath environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lourencetti, Carolina; Ballester, Clara; Fernandez, Pilar; Marco, Esther; Prado, Celia; Periago, Juan F.; Grimalt, Joan O.

2010-01-01

A method for the estimation of the human intake of trihalomethanes (THMs), namely chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform, during showering and bathing is reported. The method is based on the determination of these compounds in exhaled breath that is collected by solid adsorption on Tenax using a device specifically designed for this purpose. Instrumental measurements were performed by automatic thermal desorption coupled to gas chromatography with electron capture detection. THMs in exhaled breath samples were determined during showering and swimming pool attendance. The levels of these compounds in indoor air and water were also determined as reference for interpretation of the exhaled breath results. The THM concentrations in exhaled breath of the volunteers measured before the exposure experiments showed a close correspondence with the THMs levels in indoor air where the sampler was located. Limits of detection in exhaled breath were dependent on THM analytes and experimental sites. They ranged between 170 and 710 ng m -3 in the swimming pool studies and between 97 and 460 ng m -3 in the showering studies. Application of this method to THMs determination during showering and swimming pool activities revealed statistically significant increases in THMs concentrations when comparing exhaled breath before and after exposure.

Exhaled Breath Condensate Detects Baseline Reductions in Chloride and Increases in Response to Albuterol in Cystic Fibrosis Patients

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Courtney M. Wheatley

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Impaired ion regulation and dehydration is the primary pathophysiology in cystic fibrosis (CF lung disease. A potential application of exhaled breath condensate (EBC collection is to assess airway surface liquid ionic composition at baseline and in response to pharmacological therapy in CF. Our aims were to determine if EBC could detect differences in ion regulation between CF and healthy and measure the effect of the albuterol on EBC ions in these populations. Baseline EBC Cl − , DLCO and SpO 2 were lower in CF (n = 16 compared to healthy participants (n = 16. EBC Cl − increased in CF subjects, while there was no change in DLCO or membrane conductance, but a decrease in pulmonary-capillary blood volume in both groups following albuterol. This resulted in an improvement in diffusion at the alveolar-capillary unit, and removal of the baseline difference in SpO 2 by 90-minutes in CF subjects. These results demonstrate that EBC detects differences in ion regulation between healthy and CF individuals, and that albuterol mediates increases in Cl − in CF, suggesting that the benefits of albuterol extend beyond simple bronchodilation.

Determination of hexavalent chromium in exhaled breath condensate and environmental air among chrome plating workers.

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Goldoni, Matteo; Caglieri, Andrea; Poli, Diana; Vettori, Maria Vittoria; Corradi, Massimo; Apostoli, Pietro; Mutti, Antonio

2006-03-15

Chromium speciation has attracted attention because of the different toxicity of Cr(III), which is considered relatively non-toxic, and Cr(VI), which can cross cell membranes mainly as a chromate anion and has been classified as a class I human carcinogen. The aims of the present study were to measure soluble Cr(VI) levels in environmental samples, to develop a simple method of quantifying Cr(VI) in exhaled breath condensate (EBC), and to follow the kinetics of EBC Cr(VI) in chrome plating workers.Personal air samples were collected from 10 chrome platers; EBC was collected from the same workers immediately after the work shift on Tuesday and before the work shift on the following Wednesday. Environmental and EBC Cr(VI) levels were determined by means of colorimetry and electrothermal absorption atomic spectrometry, respectively.The method of detecting Cr(VI) in environmental air was based on the extraction of the Cr(VI)-diphenylcarbazide (Cr(VI)-DPC) complex in 1-butanol, whereas EBC Cr(VI) was determined using a solvent extraction of Cr(VI) as an ion pair with tetrabutylammonium ion, and subsequent direct determination of the complex (Cr(VI)-DPC) in EBC.Kinetic data showed that airborne Cr(VI) was reduced by 50% in airway lining fluid sampled at the end of exposure and that there was a further 50% reduction after about 15 h. The persistence of Cr(VI) in EBC supports the use of EBC in assessing target tissue levels of Cr(VI).

Determination of hexavalent chromium in exhaled breath condensate and environmental air among chrome plating workers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldoni, Matteo; Caglieri, Andrea; Poli, Diana; Vettori, Maria Vittoria; Corradi, Massimo; Apostoli, Pietro; Mutti, Antonio

2006-01-01

Chromium speciation has attracted attention because of the different toxicity of Cr(III), which is considered relatively non-toxic, and Cr(VI), which can cross cell membranes mainly as a chromate anion and has been classified as a class I human carcinogen. The aims of the present study were to measure soluble Cr(VI) levels in environmental samples, to develop a simple method of quantifying Cr(VI) in exhaled breath condensate (EBC), and to follow the kinetics of EBC Cr(VI) in chrome plating workers. Personal air samples were collected from 10 chrome platers; EBC was collected from the same workers immediately after the work shift on Tuesday and before the work shift on the following Wednesday. Environmental and EBC Cr(VI) levels were determined by means of colorimetry and electrothermal absorption atomic spectrometry, respectively. The method of detecting Cr(VI) in environmental air was based on the extraction of the Cr(VI)-diphenylcarbazide (Cr(VI)-DPC) complex in 1-butanol, whereas EBC Cr(VI) was determined using a solvent extraction of Cr(VI) as an ion pair with tetrabutylammonium ion, and subsequent direct determination of the complex (Cr(VI)-DPC) in EBC. Kinetic data showed that airborne Cr(VI) was reduced by 50% in airway lining fluid sampled at the end of exposure and that there was a further 50% reduction after about 15 h. The persistence of Cr(VI) in EBC supports the use of EBC in assessing target tissue levels of Cr(VI)

Determination of hexavalent chromium in exhaled breath condensate and environmental air among chrome plating workers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goldoni, Matteo [Laboratory of Industrial Toxicology, Department of Clinical Medicine, Nephrology and Health Sciences, University of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43100 Parma (Italy); National Institute of Occupational Safety and Prevention, Research Centre at University of Parma, Parma (Italy); Caglieri, Andrea [Laboratory of Industrial Toxicology, Department of Clinical Medicine, Nephrology and Health Sciences, University of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43100 Parma (Italy); Poli, Diana [Laboratory of Industrial Toxicology, Department of Clinical Medicine, Nephrology and Health Sciences, University of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43100 Parma (Italy); National Institute of Occupational Safety and Prevention, Research Centre at University of Parma, Parma (Italy); Vettori, Maria Vittoria [Laboratory of Industrial Toxicology, Department of Clinical Medicine, Nephrology and Health Sciences, University of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43100 Parma (Italy); National Institute of Occupational Safety and Prevention, Research Centre at University of Parma, Parma (Italy); Corradi, Massimo [Laboratory of Industrial Toxicology, Department of Clinical Medicine, Nephrology and Health Sciences, University of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43100 Parma (Italy); National Institute of Occupational Safety and Prevention, Research Centre at University of Parma, Parma (Italy); Apostoli, Pietro [Laboratory of Industrial Hygiene, Department of Experimental and Applied Medicine, University of Brescia (Italy); Mutti, Antonio [Laboratory of Industrial Toxicology, Department of Clinical Medicine, Nephrology and Health Sciences, University of Parma, Via Gramsci 14, 43100 Parma (Italy)]. E-mail: antonio.mutti@unipr.it

2006-03-15

Chromium speciation has attracted attention because of the different toxicity of Cr(III), which is considered relatively non-toxic, and Cr(VI), which can cross cell membranes mainly as a chromate anion and has been classified as a class I human carcinogen. The aims of the present study were to measure soluble Cr(VI) levels in environmental samples, to develop a simple method of quantifying Cr(VI) in exhaled breath condensate (EBC), and to follow the kinetics of EBC Cr(VI) in chrome plating workers. Personal air samples were collected from 10 chrome platers; EBC was collected from the same workers immediately after the work shift on Tuesday and before the work shift on the following Wednesday. Environmental and EBC Cr(VI) levels were determined by means of colorimetry and electrothermal absorption atomic spectrometry, respectively. The method of detecting Cr(VI) in environmental air was based on the extraction of the Cr(VI)-diphenylcarbazide (Cr(VI)-DPC) complex in 1-butanol, whereas EBC Cr(VI) was determined using a solvent extraction of Cr(VI) as an ion pair with tetrabutylammonium ion, and subsequent direct determination of the complex (Cr(VI)-DPC) in EBC. Kinetic data showed that airborne Cr(VI) was reduced by 50% in airway lining fluid sampled at the end of exposure and that there was a further 50% reduction after about 15 h. The persistence of Cr(VI) in EBC supports the use of EBC in assessing target tissue levels of Cr(VI)

Specific Metabolome Profile of Exhaled Breath Condensate in Patients with Shock and Respiratory Failure: A Pilot Study

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Brice Fermier

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Shock includes different pathophysiological mechanisms not fully understood and remains a challenge to manage. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC may contain relevant biomarkers that could help us make an early diagnosis or better understand the metabolic perturbations resulting from this pathological situation. Objective: we aimed to establish the metabolomics signature of EBC from patients in shock with acute respiratory failure in a pilot study. Material and methods: We explored the metabolic signature of EBC in 12 patients with shock compared to 14 controls using LC-HRMS. We used a non-targeted approach, and we performed a multivariate analysis based on Orthogonal Partial Least Square-Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA to differentiate between the two groups of patients. Results: We optimized the procedure of EBC collection and LC-HRMS detected more than 1000 ions in this fluid. The optimization of multivariate models led to an excellent model of differentiation for both groups (Q2 > 0.4 after inclusion of only 6 ions. Discussion and conclusion: We validated the procedure of EBC collection and we showed that the metabolome profile of EBC may be relevant in characterizing patients with shock. We performed well in distinguishing these patients from controls, and the identification of relevant compounds may be promising for ICC patients.

Moderate altitude but not additional endurance training increases markers of oxidative stress in exhaled breath condensate.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinicke, Ilmar; Boehler, Annette; Rechsteiner, Thomas; Bogdanova, Anna; Jelkmann, Wolfgang; Hofer, Markus; Rawlings, Pablo; Araneda, Oscar F; Behn, Claus; Gassmann, Max; Heinicke, Katja

2009-07-01

Oxidative stress occurs at altitude, and physical exertion might enhance this stress. In the present study, we investigated the combined effects of exercise and moderate altitude on redox balance in ten endurance exercising biathletes, and five sedentary volunteers during a 6-week-stay at 2,800 m. As a marker for oxidative stress, hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) was analyzed by the biosensor measuring system Ecocheck, and 8-iso prostaglandin F2alpha (8-iso PGF2alpha) was determined by enzyme immunoassay in exhaled breath condensate (EBC). To determine the whole blood antioxidative capacity, we measured reduced glutathione (GSH) enzymatically using Ellman's reagent. Exercising athletes and sedentary volunteers showed increased levels of oxidative markers at moderate altitude, contrary to our expectations; there was no difference between both groups. Therefore, all subjects' data were pooled to examine the oxidative stress response exclusively due to altitude exposure. H(2)O(2) levels increased at altitude and remained elevated for 3 days after returning to sea level (p altitude, but declined immediately after returning to sea level (p altitude resulted in elevated GSH levels (p altitude (p altitude for up to 6 weeks increases markers of oxidative stress in EBC independent of additional endurance training. Notably, this oxidative stress is still detectable 3 days upon return to sea level.

Fractionated breath condensate sampling: H2O2 concentrations of the alveolar fraction may be related to asthma control in children

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Trischler Jordis

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways but recent studies have shown that alveoli are also subject to pathophysiological changes. This study was undertaken to compare hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 concentrations in different parts of the lung using a new technique of fractioned breath condensate sampling. Methods In 52 children (9-17 years, 32 asthmatic patients, 20 controls measurements of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO, lung function, H2O2 in exhaled breath condensate (EBC and the asthma control test (ACT were performed. Exhaled breath condensate was collected in two different fractions, representing mainly either the airways or the alveoli. H2O2 was analysed in the airway and alveolar fractions and compared to clinical parameters. Results The exhaled H2O2 concentration was significantly higher in the airway fraction than in the alveolar fraction comparing each single pair (p = 0.003, 0.032 and 0.040 for the whole study group, the asthmatic group and the control group, respectively. Asthma control, measured by the asthma control test (ACT, correlated significantly with the H2O2 concentrations in the alveolar fraction (r = 0.606, p = 0.004 but not with those in the airway fraction in the group of children above 12 years. FENO values and lung function parameters did not correlate to the H2O2 concentrations of each fraction. Conclusion The new technique of fractionated H2O2 measurement may differentiate H2O2 concentrations in different parts of the lung in asthmatic and control children. H2O2 concentrations of the alveolar fraction may be related to the asthma control test in children.

Biomarkers of exposure to stainless steel tungsten inert gas welding fumes and the effect of exposure on exhaled breath condensate.

Science.gov (United States)

Riccelli, Maria Grazia; Goldoni, Matteo; Andreoli, Roberta; Mozzoni, Paola; Pinelli, Silvana; Alinovi, Rossella; Selis, Luisella; Mutti, Antonio; Corradi, Massimo

2018-08-01

The respiratory tract is the main target organ of the inhaled hexavalent chromium (Cr-VI) and nickel (Ni) contained in stainless steel (SS) welding fumes (WFs). The aim of this study was to investigate the Cr and Ni content of the exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of SS tungsten inert gas (TIG) welders, and relate their concentrations with oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers. EBC and urine from 100 SS TIG welders were collected pre-(T 0 ) and post-shift (T 1 ) on a Friday, and pre-shift (T 2 ) on the following Monday morning. Both EBC and urinary Cr concentrations were higher at T 1 (0.08 μg/L and 0.71 μg/g creatinine) and T 0 (0.06 μg/L and 0.74 μg/g creatinine) than at T 2 (below the limit of detection [LOD] and 0.59 μg/g creatinine), and EBC Ni concentrations generally remained welding also play a role in generating lung oxidative stress. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A hydrogen peroxide sensor for exhaled breath measurement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dam, T.V.A.; Olthuis, Wouter; Bergveld, Piet; van den Berg, Albert

2004-01-01

An increase in produced hydrogen peroxide concentration in exhaled breath (EB) of patients, who suffer from some diseases related to lung function, has been observed and considered as a reliable indicator of lung diseases. In the EB of these patients, hydrogen peroxide is present in the vapour phase

A hydrogen peroxide sensor for exhaled breath measurement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dam, T.V.A.; Olthuis, Wouter; Bergveld, Piet

2005-01-01

An increase in hydrogen peroxide concentration in exhaled breath (EB) of patients, who suffer from some diseases related to the lung function, has been observed and considered as a reliable indicator of lung diseases. In the EB of these patients, hydrogen peroxide is present in the vapour phase

Evaluation of a new simple collection device for sampling of microparticles in exhaled breath.

Science.gov (United States)

Seferaj, Sabina; Ullah, Shahid; Tinglev, Åsa; Carlsson, Sten; Winberg, Jesper; Stambeck, Peter; Beck, Olof

2018-03-12

The microparticle fraction of exhaled breath is of interest for developing clinical biomarkers. Exhaled particles may contain non-volatile components from all parts of the airway system, formed during normal breathing. This study aimed to evaluate a new, simple sampling device, based on impaction, for collecting microparticles from exhaled breath. Performance of the new device was compared with that of the existing SensAbues membrane filter device. The analytical work used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods. The new device collected three subsamples and these were separately analysed from eight individuals. No difference was observed between the centre position (0.91 ng/sample) and the side positions (1.01 ng/sample) using major phosphatidylcholine (PC) 16:0/16:0 as the analyte. Exhaled breath was collected from eight patients on methadone maintenance treatment. The intra-individual variability in measured methadone concentration between the three collectors was 8.7%. In another experiment using patients on methadone maintenance treatment, the sampling efficiency was compared with an established filter device. Compared to the existing device, the efficiency of the new device was 121% greater for methadone and 1450% greater for DPPC. The data from lipid analysis also indicated that a larger fraction of the collected material was from the distal parts. Finally, a study using an optical particle counter indicated that the device preferentially collects the larger particle fraction. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the usefulness of the new device for collecting non-volatile components from exhaled breath. The performance of the device was superior to the filter device in several aspects.

Submarines, spacecraft and exhaled breath.

Science.gov (United States)

Pleil, Joachim D; Hansel, Armin

2012-03-01

Foreword The International Association of Breath Research (IABR) meetings are an eclectic gathering of researchers in the medical, environmental and instrumentation fields; our focus is on human health as assessed by the measurement and interpretation of trace chemicals in human exhaled breath. What may have escaped our notice is a complementary field of research that explores the creation and maintenance of artificial atmospheres practised by the submarine air monitoring and air purification (SAMAP) community. SAMAP is comprised of manufacturers, researchers and medical professionals dealing with the engineering and instrumentation to support human life in submarines and spacecraft (including shuttlecraft and manned rockets, high-altitude aircraft, and the International Space Station (ISS)). Here, the immediate concerns are short-term survival and long-term health in fairly confined environments where one cannot simply 'open the window' for fresh air. As such, one of the main concerns is air monitoring and the main sources of contamination are CO(2) and other constituents of human exhaled breath. Since the inaugural meeting in 1994 in Adelaide, Australia, SAMAP meetings have been held every two or three years alternating between the North American and European continents. The meetings are organized by Dr Wally Mazurek (a member of IABR) of the Defense Systems Technology Organization (DSTO) of Australia, and individual meetings are co-hosted by the navies of the countries in which they are held. An overriding focus at SAMAP is life support (oxygen availability and carbon dioxide removal). Certainly, other air constituents are also important; for example, the closed environment of a submarine or the ISS can build up contaminants from consumer products, cooking, refrigeration, accidental fires, propulsion and atmosphere maintenance. However, the most immediate concern is sustaining human metabolism: removing exhaled CO(2) and replacing metabolized O(2). Another

Measurement of tumor necrosis factor-α, leukotriene B4, and interleukin 8 in the exhaled breath condensate in patients with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

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Fanny WS Ko

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Fanny WS Ko1, Ting-Fan Leung2, Gary WK Wong2, Jenny Ngai1, Kin W To1, Susanna Ng1, David SC Hui11Department of Medicine and Therapeutics; 2Department of Pediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong KongBackground: Assessment of airway inflammation in the clinical course of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD may advance our understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment.Objectives: To assess airway inflammation in patients during the course of AECOPD by serial analyses of their exhaled breath condensates (EBC.Methods: Twenty-six patients with AECOPD (22 males, mean[SD] percentage predicted forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1 44.8 [14.3], 11 with stable COPD, and 14 age and sex-matched healthy controls were studied. Patients with AECOPD were treated with systemic steroid and antibiotic for 7 days. EBC was collected from each patient with AECOPD on Day 5, 14, 30, and 60 post-hospitalization using EcoScreen (VIASYS Healthcare, USA during tidal breathing over 10 minutes. Concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α, leukotriene B4 (LTB4, and interleukin-8 (IL-8 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results: The median (IQR of TNF-α level on Day 5 was 5.08 (3.80–6 .32 pg/ml, which was lower than on Day 14 (5.84 [4.91–9.14] pg/ml, p = 0.017, Day 30 (6.14 [3.82–7.67] pg/ml, p = 0.045, and Day 60 (5.60 [4.53–8.80] pg/ml, p = 0.009. On Day 60, subjects receiving inhaled corticosteroid (ICS had a lower level of TNF-α than those who were not (4.82 [4.06–5.65] vs 7.66 [5.48–10.9] pg/ml, p = 0.02. EBC LTB4 level did not change significantly during recovery from AECOPD whereas IL-8 was mostly undetectable.Conclusions: EBC TNF-α level was low in patients receiving systemic steroid and antibiotic therapy for AECOPD. These findings suggest a potential role for serial EBC TNF-α for noninvasive monitoring of disease activity.Keywords: COPD, exacerbation, exhaled breath

Analysis of Endogenous Alkanes and Aldehydes in the Exhaled Breath of Workers Exposed to Silica Containing Dust

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Mahdi Jalali

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Background & Objectives : Silica is one of the most air pollutant in workplaces which long-term occupational exposure to silica is associated with an increased risk for respiratory diseases such as silicosis. Silicosis is an oxidative stress related disease and can lead to the development of lung cancer. This study aims to analysis of endogenous alkanes and aldehydes in the exhaled breath of workers exposed to silica containing dusts. Methods: In this study, the exhaled breath of 20 workers exposed to silica containing dust (case group, 20 healthy non-smokers and 25 healthy smokers (control group were analyzed. The breath samples using 3-liter Tedlar bags were collected. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs were extracted with solid phase micro-extraction (SPME and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC- MS. Result: Totally, thirty nine VOCs were found in all breath samples (at least once. Aldehydes and alkanes such as acetaldehyde, hexanal, nonanal, decane, pentadecane, 2-methle propane, 3-methyle pentane and octane were detected in the exhaled breath subjects. Among the these compounds, mean peak area of acetaldehyde, hexanal, nonanal, decane and pentadecane were higher in the exhaled breath of an case group than control groups (Pvalue<0.05 . Conclusions : The use of exhaled breath analysis as well as new media in the occupational toxicology and exposure biomarker assessment studies. It seems that acetaldehyde, hexanal, nonanal, decane and pentadecane can be considered as useful breath biomarkers for exposure assessment of silica containing dust. However, additional studies are needed to confirm thes results.

Exhaled breath profiling using broadband quantum cascade laser-based spectroscopy in healthy children and children with asthma and cystic fibrosis.

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van Mastrigt, E; Reyes-Reyes, A; Brand, K; Bhattacharya, N; Urbach, H P; Stubbs, A P; de Jongste, J C; Pijnenburg, M W

2016-04-08

Exhaled breath analysis is a potential non-invasive tool for diagnosing and monitoring airway diseases. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and electrochemical sensor arrays are the main techniques to detect volatile organic compounds (VOC) in exhaled breath. We developed a broadband quantum cascade laser spectroscopy technique for VOC detection and identification. The objective of this study was to assess the repeatability of exhaled breath profiling with broadband quantum cascade laser-based spectroscopy and to explore the clinical applicability by comparing exhaled breath samples from healthy children with those from children with asthma or cystic fibrosis (CF). Healthy children and children with stable asthma or stable CF, aged 6-18 years, were included. Two to four exhaled breath samples were collected in Tedlar bags and analyzed by quantum cascade laser spectroscopy to detect VOCs with an absorption profile in the wavenumber region between 832 and 1262.55 cm(-1). We included 35 healthy children, 39 children with asthma and 15 with CF. Exhaled breath VOC profiles showed poor repeatability (Spearman's rho  =  0.36 to 0.46) and agreement of the complete profiles. However, we were able to discriminate healthy children from children with stable asthma or stable CF and identified VOCs that were responsible for this discrimination. Broadband quantum cascade laser-based spectroscopy detected differences in VOC profiles in exhaled breath samples between healthy children and children with asthma or CF. The combination of a relatively easy and fast method and the possibility of molecule identification makes broadband quantum cascade laser-based spectroscopy attractive to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic potential of volatiles in exhaled breath.

Analysis of volatile compounds in exhaled breath condensate in patients with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension.

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Mansoor, J K; Schelegle, Edward S; Davis, Cristina E; Walby, William F; Zhao, Weixiang; Aksenov, Alexander A; Pasamontes, Alberto; Figueroa, Jennifer; Allen, Roblee

2014-01-01

An important challenge to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) diagnosis and treatment is early detection of occult pulmonary vascular pathology. Symptoms are frequently confused with other disease entities that lead to inappropriate interventions and allow for progression to advanced states of disease. There is a significant need to develop new markers for early disease detection and management of PAH. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) samples were compared from 30 age-matched normal healthy individuals and 27 New York Heart Association functional class III and IV idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertenion (IPAH) patients, a subgroup of PAH. Volatile organic compounds (VOC) in EBC samples were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Individual peaks in GC profiles were identified in both groups and correlated with pulmonary hemodynamic and clinical endpoints in the IPAH group. Additionally, GC/MS data were analyzed using autoregression followed by partial least squares regression (AR/PLSR) analysis to discriminate between the IPAH and control groups. After correcting for medicaitons, there were 62 unique compounds in the control group, 32 unique compounds in the IPAH group, and 14 in-common compounds between groups. Peak-by-peak analysis of GC profiles of IPAH group EBC samples identified 6 compounds significantly correlated with pulmonary hemodynamic variables important in IPAH diagnosis. AR/PLSR analysis of GC/MS data resulted in a distinct and identifiable metabolic signature for IPAH patients. These findings indicate the utility of EBC VOC analysis to discriminate between severe IPAH and a healthy population; additionally, we identified potential novel biomarkers that correlated with IPAH pulmonary hemodynamic variables that may be important in screening for less severe forms IPAH.

Analysis of volatile compounds in exhaled breath condensate in patients with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension.

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J K Mansoor

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: An important challenge to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH diagnosis and treatment is early detection of occult pulmonary vascular pathology. Symptoms are frequently confused with other disease entities that lead to inappropriate interventions and allow for progression to advanced states of disease. There is a significant need to develop new markers for early disease detection and management of PAH. METHODOLGY AND FINDINGS: Exhaled breath condensate (EBC samples were compared from 30 age-matched normal healthy individuals and 27 New York Heart Association functional class III and IV idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertenion (IPAH patients, a subgroup of PAH. Volatile organic compounds (VOC in EBC samples were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS. Individual peaks in GC profiles were identified in both groups and correlated with pulmonary hemodynamic and clinical endpoints in the IPAH group. Additionally, GC/MS data were analyzed using autoregression followed by partial least squares regression (AR/PLSR analysis to discriminate between the IPAH and control groups. After correcting for medicaitons, there were 62 unique compounds in the control group, 32 unique compounds in the IPAH group, and 14 in-common compounds between groups. Peak-by-peak analysis of GC profiles of IPAH group EBC samples identified 6 compounds significantly correlated with pulmonary hemodynamic variables important in IPAH diagnosis. AR/PLSR analysis of GC/MS data resulted in a distinct and identifiable metabolic signature for IPAH patients. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate the utility of EBC VOC analysis to discriminate between severe IPAH and a healthy population; additionally, we identified potential novel biomarkers that correlated with IPAH pulmonary hemodynamic variables that may be important in screening for less severe forms IPAH.

Exhaled breath condensate pH and cysteinyl leukotriens in patients with chronic cough secondary to acid gastroesophageal reflux.

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Heffler, Enrico; Crimi, Claudia; Brussino, Luisa; Nicola, Stefania; Sichili, Stefania; Dughera, Luca; Rolla, Giovanni; Crimi, Nunzio

2016-12-22

Chronic cough is one of the most common clinical problems and it may be secondary to different stimuli and diseases, including low-level physical and chemical stimulation of the esophageal-bronchial reflex, suggestive of cough-reflex hyperresponsiveness, in patients with gastroesophageal reflux; however, it is still debated whether gastroesophageal reflux could induce airway inflammation and acidification. The aim of this study was to investigate airway pH and cysteynil-leukotrienes (Cys-LTs) concentration (a marker of airway inflammation) in exhaled breath condensate (EBC). Patients with chronic cough and for which all known causes, excluding gastroesophageal reflux, had been investigated and ruled out, were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent 24 h pH monitoring, and EBC was collected to assess pH and Cys-LTs concentration. Forty-five patients were included in the study and those with gastroesophageal reflux had significantly lower EBC-pH and higher concentration of EBC-Cys-LTs. There was a linear inverse correlation between EBC-pH values and EBC-Cys-LTs logarithmically transformed, and a multivariate analysis confirmed that the only significant determinat variable of EBC-Cys-LTs was the presence of gastroesophageal reflux. This study adds knowledge on possible mechanisms related to chronic cough associated with gastroesophageal reflux, which seems to be strictly dependent on airway acidification and the production of Cys-LTs, therefore suggesting an underlying neurogenic inflammation with tachykinins involvement.

CEA, SCC and NSE levels in exhaled breath condensate--possible markers for early detection of lung cancer.

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Zou, Yingchang; Wang, Lin; Zhao, Cong; Hu, Yanjie; Xu, Shan; Ying, Kejing; Wang, Ping; Chen, Xing

2013-12-01

Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death. The sensitive and non-invasive diagnostic tools in the early stage are still poor. We present a pilot study on the early diagnosis of LC by detecting markers in exhaled breath condensate (EBC). EBC samples were collected from 105 patients with LC and 56 healthy controls. We applied chemiluminescence immunoassay to detect CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen), SCC (squamous cell carcinoma) antigen and NSE (neuron specific enolase) in EBC and serum. Concentrations of markers were compared between independent groups and subgroups. A significantly higher concentration level of each marker was found in patients with LC than healthy controls. The areas under curve of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were 0.800, 0.771, 0.659, 0.679, 0.636 and 0.626 for EBC-CEA, serum-CEA, EBC-SCC, serum-SCC, EBC-NSE and serum-NSE, respectively. Markers in EBC had a higher positive rate (PR) and were more specific to histologic types than markers in serum. In addition, multivariate analysis was performed to evaluate the association of presenting markers with the stages of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). EBC-CEA showed the best predictive characteristic (p tumor markers in EBC may have a better diagnostic performance for LC than those in serum. With further investigation on the combination of markers in EBC, detection of EBC could probably be a novel and non-invasive method to detect NSCLC earlier.

Detection of creatinine in exhaled breath of humans with chronic kidney disease by extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

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Zeng, Qian; Li, Penghui; Cai, Yunfeng; Zhou, Wei; Wang, Haidong; Luo, Jiao; Ding, Jianhua; Chen, Huanwen

2016-02-09

Exhaled breath contains chemicals that have a diagnostic value in human pathologies. Here in vivo breath analysis of creatinine has been demonstrated by constructing a novel platform based on extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (EESI-MS) without sample pretreatment. Under optimized experimental conditions, the limit of creatinine detection in breath was 30.57 ng L(-1), and the linear range of detection was from 0.3 μg L(-1) to 100 μg L(-1). The concentration range of creatinine in the exhaled breath of 50 volunteers with chronic kidney disease was from 42 pptv to 924 pptv, and the range of the relative standard deviations was from 9.3% to 19.2%. The method provides high sensitivity, high specificity and high speed for semi-quantitative analysis of creatinine in exhaled human breath.

Poly arginine-graphene quantum dots as a biocompatible and non-toxic nanocomposite: Layer-by-layer electrochemical preparation, characterization and non-invasive malondialdehyde sensory application in exhaled breath condensate

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Hasanzadeh, Mohammad, E-mail: hasanzadehm@tbzmed.ac.ir [Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 51664 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Mokhtari, Fozieh [Pharmaceutical Analysis Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Department of Biochemistry, Higher Education Institute of Rab-Rashid, Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Shadjou, Nasrin [Department of Nanochemistry, Nano Technology Research Center, Urmia University, Urmia 57154 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Department of Nano Technology, Faculty of Science, Urmia University, Urmia 57154 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Eftekhari, Aziz [Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 51664-14766 Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Mokhtarzadeh, Ahad [Department of Biochemistry, Higher Education Institute of Rab-Rashid, Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of); School of Medicine, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Jouyban-Gharamaleki, Vahid [Department of Mechatronic Engineering, International Campus, University of Tabriz, Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Mahboob, Soltanali [Department of Biochemistry, Higher Education Institute of Rab-Rashid, Tabriz (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2017-06-01

This study reports on the electropolymerization of a low toxic and biocompatible polymer with entitle poly arginine-graphene quantum dots (PARG-GQDs) as a novel strategy for surface modification of glassy carbon (GC) surface and preparation a new interface for biomedical application. The fabrication of PARG-GQDs on GCE was performed using Layer-by-layer regime. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was confirmed dispersion of GQDs on the surface of PARG which lead to increase of surface coverage of PARG. The redox behavior of prepared sensor was then characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and chronoamperometry (CHA), square wave voltammetry (SWV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). The electroactivity of PARG-GQDs coating towards detection and determination of malondialdehyde (MDA) as one of the most common biomarkers of oxidative stress, was then studied. Then, application of prepared sensor for the detection of MDA in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is described. Electrochemical based sensor shows the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) were 0.329 nanomolar. This work is the first report on the integration of GQDs to poly amino acids. Further development can lead to monitoring of MDA or other exhaled breath biomarkers by GQDs functionalized poly amino acids in EBC using electrochemical methods. - Highlights: • Simple and one pot electropolymerization was used to preparation of Poly arginine-graphene quantum dots. • PARG-GQDs-GCE shows an excellent electroactivity towards malondialdehyde. • High sensitivity and efficiency is achieved through a simple method of modification. • MDA electrochemical sensor for a direct evaluation of oxidative stress in EBC media is possible.

Poly arginine-graphene quantum dots as a biocompatible and non-toxic nanocomposite: Layer-by-layer electrochemical preparation, characterization and non-invasive malondialdehyde sensory application in exhaled breath condensate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasanzadeh, Mohammad; Mokhtari, Fozieh; Shadjou, Nasrin; Eftekhari, Aziz; Mokhtarzadeh, Ahad; Jouyban-Gharamaleki, Vahid; Mahboob, Soltanali

2017-01-01

This study reports on the electropolymerization of a low toxic and biocompatible polymer with entitle poly arginine-graphene quantum dots (PARG-GQDs) as a novel strategy for surface modification of glassy carbon (GC) surface and preparation a new interface for biomedical application. The fabrication of PARG-GQDs on GCE was performed using Layer-by-layer regime. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was confirmed dispersion of GQDs on the surface of PARG which lead to increase of surface coverage of PARG. The redox behavior of prepared sensor was then characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and chronoamperometry (CHA), square wave voltammetry (SWV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). The electroactivity of PARG-GQDs coating towards detection and determination of malondialdehyde (MDA) as one of the most common biomarkers of oxidative stress, was then studied. Then, application of prepared sensor for the detection of MDA in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is described. Electrochemical based sensor shows the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) were 0.329 nanomolar. This work is the first report on the integration of GQDs to poly amino acids. Further development can lead to monitoring of MDA or other exhaled breath biomarkers by GQDs functionalized poly amino acids in EBC using electrochemical methods. - Highlights: • Simple and one pot electropolymerization was used to preparation of Poly arginine-graphene quantum dots. • PARG-GQDs-GCE shows an excellent electroactivity towards malondialdehyde. • High sensitivity and efficiency is achieved through a simple method of modification. • MDA electrochemical sensor for a direct evaluation of oxidative stress in EBC media is possible.

Association of Lung Inflammatory Cells with Small Airways Function and Exhaled Breath Markers in Smokers - Is There a Specific Role for Mast Cells?

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Yvonne Nussbaumer-Ochsner

Full Text Available Smoking is associated with a mixed inflammatory infiltrate in the airways. We evaluated whether airway inflammation in smokers is related to lung function parameters and inflammatory markers in exhaled breath.Thirty-seven smokers undergoing lung resection for primary lung cancer were assessed pre-operatively by lung function testing including single-breath-nitrogen washout test (sb-N2-test, measurement of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO and pH/8-isoprostane in exhaled breath condensate (EBC. Lung tissue sections containing cancer-free large (LA and small airways (SA were stained for inflammatory cells. Mucosal (MCT respectively connective tissue mast cells (MCTC and interleukin-17A (IL-17A expression by mast cells was analysed using a double-staining protocol.The median number of neutrophils, macrophages and mast cells infiltrating the lamina propria and adventitia of SA was higher than in LA. Both MCTC and MCT were higher in the lamina propria of SA compared to LA (MCTC: 49 vs. 27.4 cells/mm2; MCT: 162.5 vs. 35.4 cells/mm2; P<0.005 for both instances. IL-17A expression was predominantly detected in MCTC of LA. Significant correlations were found for the slope of phase III % pred. of the sb-N2-test (rs= -0.39, for the FEV1% pred. (rs= 0.37 and for FEV1/FVC ratio (rs=0.38 with MCT in SA (P<0.05 for all instances. 8-isoprostane concentration correlated with the mast cells in the SA (rs=0.44, there was no correlation for pH or FeNO with cellular distribution in SA.Neutrophils, macrophages and mast cells are more prominent in the SA indicating that these cells are involved in the development of small airway dysfunction in smokers. Among these cell types, the best correlation was found for mast cells with lung function parameters and inflammatory markers in exhaled breath. Furthermore, the observed predominant expression of IL-17A in mast cells warrants further investigation to elucidate their role in smoking-induced lung injury, despite the

Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Exhaled Breath of Workers Exposed to Crystalline Silica Dust by SPME-GC-MS.

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Jalali, Mahdi; Zare Sakhvidi, Mohammad Javad; Bahrami, Abdulrahman; Berijani, Nima; Mahjub, Hussein

2016-01-01

Silicosis is considered an oxidative stress related disease that can lead to the development of lung cancer. In this study, our purpose was to analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the exhaled breath of workers exposed to silica containing dust and compare peak area of these compounds with silicosis patients and healthy volunteers (smokers and nonsmokers) groups. In this cross sectional case-control study, the exhaled breath of 69 subjects including workers exposed to silica (n=20), silicosis patient (n=4), healthy non-smoker (n=20) and healthy smoker (n=25) were analyzed. We collected breath samples using 3-liter Tedlar bags. The VOCs were extracted with solid phase micro-extraction (SPME) and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Personal exposure intensity was measured according to NIOSH 7601 method. Respiratory parameters were measured using spirometry. Seventy percent and 100% of the exposures to crystalline silica dust exceeded from 8 h TWA ACGIH TLVs in case and positive control groups, respectively. A significant negative correlation was found between dust exposure intensity and FEV1/FVC when exposure and positive control groups were studied in a group (r2=-0.601, P<0.001). Totally, forty VOCs were found in all exhaled breath samples. Among the VOCs, the mean of peak area acetaldehyde, hexanal, nonanal, decane, pentad cane, 2-propanol and 3-hydroxy-2-butanone were higher in exhaled breath of the workers exposed to silica and silicosis patient compared to the healthy smoker and nonsmoker controls. In some cases the difference was significant (P<0.05). The analysis of some VOCs in exhaled breath of subjects is appropriate biomarker to determine of exposure to silica.

News from the Breath Analysis Summit 2011.

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Corradi, Massimo; Mutti, Antonio

2012-06-01

This special section highlights some of the important work presented at the Breath Analysis Summit 2011, which was held in Parma (Italy) from 11 to 14 September 2011. The meeting, which was jointly organized by the International Association for Breath Research and the University of Parma, was attended by more than 250 delegates from 33 countries, and offered 34 invited lectures and 64 unsolicited scientific contributions. The summit was organized to provide a forum to scientists, engineers and clinicians to present their latest findings and to meet industry executives and entrepreneurs to discuss key trends, future directions and technologies available for breath analysis. A major focus was on nitric oxide, exhaled breath condensate, electronic nose, mass spectrometry and newer sensor technologies. Medical applications ranged from asthma and other respiratory diseases to gastrointestinal disease, occupational diseases, critical care and cancer. Most people identify breath tests with breathalysers used by police to estimate ethanol concentration in blood. However, breath testing has far more sophisticated applications. Breath analysis is rapidly evolving as a new frontier in medical testing for disease states in the lung and beyond. Every individual has a breath fingerprint-or 'breathprint'-that can provide useful information about his or her state of health. This breathprint comprises the many thousands of molecules that are expelled with each breath we exhale. Breath research in the past few years has uncovered the scientific and molecular basis for such clinical observations. Relying on mass spectrometry, we have been able to identify many such unique substances in exhaled breath, including gases, such as nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO), and a wide array of volatile organic compounds. Exhaled breath also carries aerosolized droplets that can be collected as an exhaled breath condensate that contains endogenously produced non-volatile compounds. Breath

Comparative analysis of selected exhaled breath biomarkers obtained with two different temperature-controlled devices

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Brüning Thomas

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The collection of exhaled breath condensate (EBC is a suitable and non-invasive method for evaluation of airway inflammation. Several studies indicate that the composition of the condensate and the recovery of biomarkers are affected by physical characteristics of the condensing device and collecting circumstances. Additionally, there is an apparent influence of the condensing temperature, and often the level of detection of the assay is a limiting factor. The ECoScreen2 device is a new, partly single-use disposable system designed for studying different lung compartments. Methods EBC samples were collected from 16 healthy non-smokers by using the two commercially available devices ECoScreen2 and ECoScreen at a controlled temperature of -20°C. EBC volume, pH, NOx, LTB4, PGE2, 8-isoprostane and cys-LTs were determined. Results EBC collected with ECoScreen2 was less acidic compared to ECoScreen. ECoScreen2 was superior concerning condensate volume and detection of biomarkers, as more samples were above the detection limit (LTB4 and PGE2 or showed higher concentrations (8-isoprostane. However, NOx was detected only in EBC sampled by ECoScreen. Conclusion ECoScreen2 in combination with mediator specific enzyme immunoassays may be suitable for measurement of different biomarkers. Using this equipment, patterns of markers can be assessed that are likely to reflect the complex pathophysiological processes in inflammatory respiratory disease.

The lung cancer breath signature: a comparative analysis of exhaled breath and air sampled from inside the lungs

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Capuano, Rosamaria; Santonico, Marco; Pennazza, Giorgio; Ghezzi, Silvia; Martinelli, Eugenio; Roscioni, Claudio; Lucantoni, Gabriele; Galluccio, Giovanni; Paolesse, Roberto; di Natale, Corrado; D'Amico, Arnaldo

2015-11-01

Results collected in more than 20 years of studies suggest a relationship between the volatile organic compounds exhaled in breath and lung cancer. However, the origin of these compounds is still not completely elucidated. In spite of the simplistic vision that cancerous tissues in lungs directly emit the volatile metabolites into the airways, some papers point out that metabolites are collected by the blood and then exchanged at the air-blood interface in the lung. To shed light on this subject we performed an experiment collecting both the breath and the air inside both the lungs with a modified bronchoscopic probe. The samples were measured with a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and an electronic nose. We found that the diagnostic capability of the electronic nose does not depend on the presence of cancer in the sampled lung, reaching in both cases an above 90% correct classification rate between cancer and non-cancer samples. On the other hand, multivariate analysis of GC-MS achieved a correct classification rate between the two lungs of only 76%. GC-MS analysis of breath and air sampled from the lungs demonstrates a substantial preservation of the VOCs pattern from inside the lung to the exhaled breath.

Exhaled breath condensate pH does not discriminate asymptomatic gastroesophageal reflux or the response to lansoprazole treatment in children with poorly controlled asthma.

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Fitzpatrick, Anne M; Holbrook, Janet T; Wei, Christine Y; Brown, Meredith S; Wise, Robert A; Teague, W Gerald

2014-01-01

Although exhaled breath condensate (EBC) pH has been identified as an "emerging" biomarker of interest for asthma clinical trials, the clinical determinants of EBC pH remain poorly understood. Other studies have associated acid reflux-induced respiratory symptoms, for example, cough, with transient acidification of EBC. We sought to determine the clinical and physiologic correlates of EBC acidification in a highly characterized sample of children with poorly controlled asthma. We hypothesized that (1) children with asymptomatic gastroesophageal reflux determined by 24-hour esophageal pH monitoring would have a lower EBC pH than children without gastroesophageal reflux, (2) treatment with lansoprazole would alter EBC pH in those children, and (3) EBC acidification would be associated with increased asthma symptoms, poorer asthma control and quality of life, and increased formation of breath nitrogen oxides (NOx). A total of 110 children, age range 6 to 17 years, with poor asthma control and esophageal pH data enrolled in the Study of Acid Reflux in Children with Asthma (NCT00442013) were included. Children submitted EBC samples for pH and NOx measurement at randomization and at study weeks 8, 16, and 24. Serial EBC pH measurements failed to distinguish asymptomatic gastroesophageal reflux and was not associated with breath NOx formation. EBC pH also did not discriminate asthma characteristics such as medication and health care utilization, pulmonary function, and asthma control and quality of life both at baseline and across the study period. Despite the relative ease of EBC collection, EBC pH as a biomarker does not provide useful information of children with asthma who were enrolled in asthma clinical trials. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EXHALED AND PLASMA NITRITE: a comparative study among healthy, cirrhotic and liver transplant patients

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Viviane S AUGUSTO

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Context There is a relative lack of studies about exhaled nitrite (NO2- concentrations in cirrhotic and transplanted patients. Objective Verify possible differences and correlations between the levels of NO2-, measured in plasma and exhaled breath condensate collected from patients with cirrhosis and liver transplant. Method Sixty adult male patients, aged between 27 and 67 years, were subdivided into three groups: a control group comprised of 15 healthy volunteers, a cirrhosis group composed of 15 volunteers, and a transplant group comprised of 30 volunteers. The NO2- concentrations were measured by chemiluminescence. Results 1 The analysis of plasma NO2- held among the three groups showed no statistical significance. 2 The comparison between cirrhotic and control groups, control and transplanted and cirrhotic and transplanted was not statistically significant. 3 The measurements performed on of NO2- exhaled breath condensate among the three groups showed no statistical difference. 4 When comparing the control group samples and cirrhotic, control and transplanted and cirrhotic and transplanted, there was no significant changes in the concentrations of NO2-. Conclusion No correlations were found between plasma and exhaled NO2-, suggesting that the exhaled NO2- is more reflective of local respiratory NO release than the systemic circulation.

Breath-to-breath variability of exhaled CO2 as a marker of lung dysmaturity in infancy.

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Fouzas, Sotirios; Theodorakopoulos, Ilias; Delgado-Eckert, Edgar; Latzin, Philipp; Frey, Urs

2017-12-01

The concept of diffusional screening implies that breath-to-breath variations in CO 2 clearance, when related to the variability of breathing, may contain information on the quality and utilization of the available alveolar surface. We explored the validity of the above hypothesis in a cohort of young infants of comparable postmenstrual age but born at different stages of lung maturity, namely, in term-born infants ( n = 128), preterm-born infants without chronic lung disease of infancy (CLDI; n = 53), and preterm infants with moderate/severe CLDI ( n = 87). Exhaled CO 2 volume (V E,CO2 ) and concentration (F E,CO2 ) were determined by volumetric capnography, whereas their variance was assessed by linear and nonlinear variability metrics. The relationship between relative breath-to-breath change of V E,CO2 (ΔV E,CO2 ) and the corresponding change of tidal volume (ΔV T ) was also analyzed. Nonlinear F E,CO2 variability was lower in CLDI compared with term and non-CLDI preterm group ( P variability was attributed to the variability of V T ( r 2 = 0.749), whereas in term and healthy preterm infants this relationship was weaker ( r 2 = 0.507 and 0.630, respectively). The ΔV E,CO2 - ΔV T slope was less steep in the CLDI group (1.06 ± 0.07) compared with non-CLDI preterm (1.16 ± 0.07; P variability that can be quantified by nonlinear variability metrics and may reflect the degree of lung dysmaturity. In infants with moderate/severe chronic lung disease of infancy (CLDI), the variability of the exhaled CO 2 is mainly driven by the variability of breathing, whereas in term-born and healthy preterm infants this relationship is less strong. The slope of the relative CO 2 -to-volume change is less steep in CLDI infants, suggesting that dysmature lungs are less efficient in eliminating CO 2 under tidal breathing conditions.

Exhaled nitric oxide levels in school children in relation to IgE sensitisation and window pane condensation.

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Janson, Christer; Kalm-Stephens, Pia; Foucard, Tony; Norbäck, Dan; Alving, Kjell; Nordvall, S Lennart

2005-08-01

A positive relation between exhaled nitric oxide (NO) levels and allergen exposure has been found in some studies whereas there is less information on how non-allergen environmental factors influences exhaled NO. To study the relationship between exhaled NO levels in schoolchildren in relation to IgE sensitisation and allergenic and non-allergenic environmental factors. This study comprised 374 schoolchildren (13-14 years of age) who performed exhaled NO-measurements and skin prick tests. Exposure to allergens, respiratory infections, environmental tobacco smoke and home window pane condensation, the latter an indicator of high humidity and poor ventilation was evaluated through questionnaires. In IgE-sensitised children sensitisation to pets was a more important determinant of exhaled NO than sensitisation to pollen. Higher NO levels were found in cat-sensitised children with a cat or other furred pets at home compared to cat-sensitised children without pets (geometric mean, 24.0 vs. 13.9 ppb, P=0.03). Significantly higher exhaled NO levels were found in non-sensitised children that reported having a cold (5.7 vs. 3.8 ppb, P<0.001) or lived in homes with window pane condensation (7.1 vs. 4.4 ppb, P=0.01) than in non-sensitised children without a cold and window pane condensation, respectively. These associations were not found in children that were sensitised to inhalation allergens. Allergen exposure seems to be the most important determinant for exhaled NO levels in IgE-sensitised children whereas in non-sensitised children NO levels were associated with respiratory infections and home window pane condensation.

Quantifying Aerosol Delivery in Simulated Spontaneously Breathing Patients With Tracheostomy Using Different Humidification Systems With or Without Exhaled Humidity.

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Ari, Arzu; Harwood, Robert; Sheard, Meryl; Alquaimi, Maher Mubarak; Alhamad, Bshayer; Fink, James B

2016-05-01

Aerosol and humidification therapy are used in long-term airway management of critically ill patients with a tracheostomy. The purpose of this study was to determine delivery efficiency of jet and mesh nebulizers combined with different humidification systems in a model of a spontaneously breathing tracheotomized adult with or without exhaled heated humidity. An in vitro model was constructed to simulate a spontaneously breathing adult (tidal volume, 400 mL; breathing frequency, 20 breaths/min; inspiratory-expiratory ratio, 1:2) with a tracheostomy using a teaching manikin attached to a test lung through a collecting filter (Vital Signs Respirgard II). Exhaled heat and humidity were simulated using a cascade humidifier set to deliver 37°C and >95% relative humidity. Albuterol sulfate (2.5 mg/3 mL) was administered with a jet nebulizer (AirLife Misty Max) operated at 10 L/min and a mesh nebulizer (Aeroneb Solo) using a heated pass-over humidifier, unheated large volume humidifier both at 40 L/min output and heat-and-moisture exchanger. Inhaled drug eluted from the filter was analyzed via spectrophotometry (276 nm). Delivery efficiency of the jet nebulizer was less than that of the mesh nebulizer under all conditions (P < .05). Aerosol delivery with each nebulizer was greatest on room air and lowest when heated humidifiers with higher flows were used. Exhaled humidity decreased drug delivery up to 44%. The jet nebulizer was less efficient than the mesh nebulizer in all conditions tested in this study. Aerosol deposition with each nebulizer was lowest with the heated humidifier with high flow. Exhaled humidity reduced inhaled dose of drug compared with a standard model with nonheated/nonhumidified exhalation. Further clinical research is warranted to understand the impact of exhaled humidity on aerosol drug delivery in spontaneously breathing patients with tracheostomy using different types of humidifiers. Copyright © 2016 by Daedalus Enterprises.

Feasibility and potential utility of multicomponent exhaled breath analysis for predicting development of radiation pneumonitis after stereotactic ablative radiotherapy.

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Moré, Jayaji M; Eclov, Neville C W; Chung, Melody P; Wynne, Jacob F; Shorter, Joanne H; Nelson, David D; Hanlon, Alexandra L; Burmeister, Robert; Banos, Peter; Maxim, Peter G; Loo, Billy W; Diehn, Maximilian

2014-07-01

In this prospective pilot study, we evaluated the feasibility and potential utility of measuring multiple exhaled gases as biomarkers of radiation pneumonitis (RP) in patients receiving stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) for lung tumors. Breath analysis was performed for 26 patients receiving SABR for lung tumors. Concentrations of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO), carbon monoxide (eCO), nitrous oxide (eN2O), and carbon dioxide (eCO2) were measured before and immediately after each fraction using real-time, infrared laser spectroscopy. RP development (CTCAE grade ≥2) was correlated with baseline gas concentrations, acute changes in gas concentrations after each SABR fraction, and dosimetric parameters. Exhaled breath analysis was successfully completed in 77% of patients. Five of 20 evaluable patients developed RP at a mean of 5.4 months after SABR. Acute changes in eNO and eCO concentrations, defined as percent changes between each pre-fraction and post-fraction measurement, were significantly smaller in RP versus non-RP cases (p = 0.022 and 0.015, respectively). In an exploratory analysis, a combined predictor of baseline eNO greater than 24 parts per billion and acute decrease in eCO less than 5.5% strongly correlated with RP incidence (p =0.0099). Neither eN2O nor eCO2 concentrations were significantly associated with RP development. Although generally higher in patients destined to develop RP, dosimetric parameters were not significantly associated with RP development. The majority of SABR patients in this pilot study were able to complete exhaled breath analysis. Baseline concentrations and acute changes in concentrations of exhaled breath components were associated with RP development after SABR. If our findings are validated, exhaled breath analysis may become a useful approach for noninvasive identification of patients at highest risk for developing RP after SABR.

Breath biomarkers in toxicology.

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Pleil, Joachim D

2016-11-01

Exhaled breath has joined blood and urine as a valuable resource for sampling and analyzing biomarkers in human media for assessing exposure, uptake metabolism, and elimination of toxic chemicals. This article focuses current use of exhaled gas, aerosols, and vapor in human breath, the methods for collection, and ultimately the use of the resulting data. Some advantages of breath are the noninvasive and self-administered nature of collection, the essentially inexhaustible supply, and that breath sampling does not produce potentially infectious waste such as needles, wipes, bandages, and glassware. In contrast to blood and urine, breath samples can be collected on demand in rapid succession and so allow toxicokinetic observations of uptake and elimination in any time frame. Furthermore, new technologies now allow capturing condensed breath vapor directly, or just the aerosol fraction alone, to gain access to inorganic species, lung pH, proteins and protein fragments, cellular DNA, and whole microorganisms from the pulmonary microbiome. Future applications are discussed, especially the use of isotopically labeled probes, non-targeted (discovery) analysis, cellular level toxicity testing, and ultimately assessing "crowd breath" of groups of people and the relation to dose of airborne and other environmental chemicals at the population level.

The concentration distributions of some metabolites in the exhaled breath of young adults

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Španěl, Patrik; Dryahina, Kseniya; Smith, D.

2007-01-01

Roč. 1, - (2007), 026001 ISSN 1752-7155 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA202/06/0776 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503 Keywords : metabolites * exhaled breath * concentration distributions Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry

Hydrogen peroxide release and acid-base status in exhaled breath condensate at rest and after maximal exercise in young, healthy subjects.

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Marek, E; Platen, P; Volke, J; Mückenhoff, K; Marek, W

2009-12-07

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) contains among a large number of mediators hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as a marker of airway inflammation and oxidative stress. Similarly EBC pH also changes in respiratory diseases. It was the aim of our investigation to prove if hydrogen peroxide release and changes in pH of EBC changes with exercise. EBC was collected from 100 litres exhaled air along with samples of arterialized blood of 16 healthy subjects (9 males, 7 females, age 23 +/- 1 years). EBC hydrogen peroxide was analyzed with EcoCheck amperometer (FILT, Berlin). The rate of H(2)O(2) release was calculated from the concentration and collection time. pH and PCO(2) in blood and in EBC were measured with the Radiometer blood gas analyzer, EBC was equilibrated with a gas mixture (5% CO(2) in O(2)). The bicarbonate concentration was calculated according to the law of mass action for CO(2) and HCO(3)(-) (pK = 6.1). H(2)O(2) concentration in EBC was 190 +/- 109 nmol/l, and H (2)O(2) release at rest was 31.0 +/- 18.3 pmol/min. At maximal exercise, the H(2)O(2) concentration in EBC increased to 250 +/- 120 nmol/l, and H(2)O(2) release significantly increased at maximal exercise to 84.4 +/- 39.9 pmol/min (Pexercise, pH 6.18 +/- 0.17 and [HCO(3)(-)] 1.23 +/- 0.30 mmol/l remained almost unaltered. The rate of H(2)O(2) release in EBC increased during exhausting exercise (external load: 300 Watt) by a factor of 2, whereas the pH and the bicarbonate concentration of the EBC, equilibrated with 5% CO(2) at 37 degrees C were not significantly altered. It has to be proven by further experiments whether there is a linear relationship between the rates of H(2)O(2) release in EBC in graded submaximal exercise.

Sensitive Spectroscopic Analysis of Biomarkers in Exhaled Breath

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Bicer, A.; Bounds, J.; Zhu, F.; Kolomenskii, A. A.; Kaya, N.; Aluauee, E.; Amani, M.; Schuessler, H. A.

2018-06-01

We have developed a novel optical setup which is based on a high finesse cavity and absorption laser spectroscopy in the near-IR spectral region. In pilot experiments, spectrally resolved absorption measurements of biomarkers in exhaled breath, such as methane and acetone, were carried out using cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS). With a 172-cm-long cavity, an efficient optical path of 132 km was achieved. The CRDS technique is well suited for such measurements due to its high sensitivity and good spectral resolution. The detection limits for methane of 8 ppbv and acetone of 2.1 ppbv with spectral sampling of 0.005 cm-1 were achieved, which allowed to analyze multicomponent gas mixtures and to observe absorption peaks of 12CH4 and 13CH4. Further improvements of the technique have the potential to realize diagnostics of health conditions based on a multicomponent analysis of breath samples.

The human volatilome: volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath, skin emanations, urine, feces and saliva.

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Amann, Anton; Costello, Ben de Lacy; Miekisch, Wolfram; Schubert, Jochen; Buszewski, Bogusław; Pleil, Joachim; Ratcliffe, Norman; Risby, Terence

2014-09-01

Breath analysis is a young field of research with its roots in antiquity. Antoine Lavoisier discovered carbon dioxide in exhaled breath during the period 1777-1783, Wilhelm (Vilém) Petters discovered acetone in breath in 1857 and Johannes Müller reported the first quantitative measurements of acetone in 1898. A recent review reported 1765 volatile compounds appearing in exhaled breath, skin emanations, urine, saliva, human breast milk, blood and feces. For a large number of compounds, real-time analysis of exhaled breath or skin emanations has been performed, e.g., during exertion of effort on a stationary bicycle or during sleep. Volatile compounds in exhaled breath, which record historical exposure, are called the 'exposome'. Changes in biogenic volatile organic compound concentrations can be used to mirror metabolic or (patho)physiological processes in the whole body or blood concentrations of drugs (e.g. propofol) in clinical settings-even during artificial ventilation or during surgery. Also compounds released by bacterial strains like Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Streptococcus pneumonia could be very interesting. Methyl methacrylate (CAS 80-62-6), for example, was observed in the headspace of Streptococcus pneumonia in concentrations up to 1420 ppb. Fecal volatiles have been implicated in differentiating certain infectious bowel diseases such as Clostridium difficile, Campylobacter, Salmonella and Cholera. They have also been used to differentiate other non-infectious conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, alterations in urine volatiles have been used to detect urinary tract infections, bladder, prostate and other cancers. Peroxidation of lipids and other biomolecules by reactive oxygen species produce volatile compounds like ethane and 1-pentane. Noninvasive detection and therapeutic monitoring of oxidative stress would be highly desirable in autoimmunological, neurological, inflammatory diseases and cancer

Can volatile compounds in exhaled breath be used to monitor control in diabetes mellitus?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Smith, D.; Španěl, Patrik; Fryer, A. A.; Hanna, F.; Ferns, G. A. A.

2011-01-01

Roč. 5, č. 2 (2011), 022001 ISSN 1752-7155 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503 Keywords : exhaled breath * diabetes mellitus * SIFT-MS Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 2.541, year: 2011

Volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath in a healthy population: effect of tobacco smoking.

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Jareño-Esteban, José Javier; Muñoz-Lucas, M Ángeles; Carrillo-Aranda, Belén; Maldonado-Sanz, José Ángel; de Granda-Orive, Ignacio; Aguilar-Ros, Antonio; Civera-Tejuca, Concepción; Gutiérrez-Ortega, Carlos; Callol-Sánchez, Luis Miguel

2013-11-01

Tobacco smoke is a source of free radicals and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, which are the main causes of oxidative stress. The analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in exhaled breath is an indirect method of measuring the level of oxidative stress that occurs in the airways caused by tobacco consumption. The aim of this study was to determine whether smoking influences the production of VOC, in a clinically healthy population. Exhaled breath from 89 healthy volunteers, divided into three groups (non-smokers, ex-smokers and smokers) was analysed. Samples were collected using Bio-VOC® devices and transferred to universal desorption tubes. Chemical compounds were analysed by thermal desorption, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. We analysed hexanal, heptanal, octanal, nonanal, nonanoic acid and propanoic acid, all identified by retention time and mass spectra referenced in the NIST 08 mass spectral library; confirmation was carried out using reference standards of the pure chemical compound. These VOC were found in very low concentrations. Only nonanal showed significant quantitative and qualitative statistical differences among the study groups. Nonanal concentration is dependent on smoking, but is independent of the amount of tobacco consumed, age and gender. Nonanal in exhaled breath is associated with tobacco consumption, current or previous. Nonanal is a sub-product of the destruction of the cell membrane, and its finding may be indicative of cell damage in smokers. This result appears in many farmers who smoke. Copyright © 2013 SEPAR. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Radium-226 body burden in U miners by measurement of Rn in exhaled breath.

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Srivastava, G K; Raghavayya, M; Kotrappa, P; Somasundaram, S

1986-02-01

Uranium miners were made to inhale Rn-free medical O2 and exhale through a 5.2-1 A1 chamber before reporting to work. The chamber was sealed and isolated from the sampling circuit. An electrostatic plate collected the freshly formed Rn-decay products. The subsequent programmed alpha counting of the plate yielded a Rn concentration in the exhaled breath. Assuming that the exhaled breath represents a certain fraction of the Rn produced inside the body, the body burden of 226Ra was calculated. Standardisation of this procedure and the data collected on 310 miners are discussed. The procedure is simple and applicable for routine measurements. The miner needs to be in the laboratory for only 10 min. The system is also portable for field application. For routine use, the minimum detectable concentration is 3.87 Bq X m-3 which corresponds to a body burden of 0.26 kBq in a typical miner, if one assumes the Rn release fraction from the body as 84%. The system offers a more convenient and sensitive alternative to whole-body counting of workers for 226Ra.

SIFT-MS Analysis of Nose-Exhaled Breath; Mouth Contamination and the Influence of Exercise

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Smith, D.; Chippendale, T. W. E.; Dryahina, Kseniya; Španěl, Patrik

2013-01-01

Roč. 9, č. 2013 (2013), s. 565-575 ISSN 1573-4110 Institutional support: RVO:61388955 Keywords : selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry * breath analysis * nose exhalation Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 1.194, year: 2013

Integration of electronic nose technology with spirometry: validation of a new approach for exhaled breath analysis.

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de Vries, R; Brinkman, P; van der Schee, M P; Fens, N; Dijkers, E; Bootsma, S K; de Jongh, F H C; Sterk, P J

2015-10-15

New 'omics'-technologies have the potential to better define airway disease in terms of pathophysiological and clinical phenotyping. The integration of electronic nose (eNose) technology with existing diagnostic tests, such as routine spirometry, can bring this technology to 'point-of-care'. We aimed to determine and optimize the technical performance and diagnostic accuracy of exhaled breath analysis linked to routine spirometry. Exhaled breath was collected in triplicate in healthy subjects by an eNose (SpiroNose) based on five identical metal oxide semiconductor sensor arrays (three arrays monitoring exhaled breath and two reference arrays monitoring ambient air) at the rear end of a pneumotachograph. First, the influence of flow, volume, humidity, temperature, environment, etc, was assessed. Secondly, a two-centre case-control study was performed using diagnostic and monitoring visits in day-to-day clinical care in patients with a (differential) diagnosis of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or lung cancer. Breathprint analysis involved signal processing, environment correction based on alveolar gradients and statistics based on principal component (PC) analysis, followed by discriminant analysis (Matlab2014/SPSS20). Expiratory flow showed a significant linear correlation with raw sensor deflections (R(2)  =  0.84) in 60 healthy subjects (age 43  ±  11 years). No correlation was found between sensor readings and exhaled volume, humidity and temperature. Exhaled data after environment correction were highly reproducible for each sensor array (Cohen's Kappa 0.81-0.94). Thirty-seven asthmatics (41  ±  14.2 years), 31 COPD patients (66  ±  8.4 years), 31 lung cancer patients (63  ±  10.8 years) and 45 healthy controls (41  ±  12.5 years) entered the cross-sectional study. SpiroNose could adequately distinguish between controls, asthma, COPD and lung cancer patients with cross-validation values

Collecting Protein Biomarkers in Breath Using Electret Filters: A Preliminary Method on New Technical Model and Human Study.

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Wang Li

Full Text Available Biomarkers in exhaled breath are useful for respiratory disease diagnosis in human volunteers. Conventional methods that collect non-volatile biomarkers, however, necessitate an extensive dilution and sanitation processes that lowers collection efficiencies and convenience of use. Electret filter emerged in recent decade to collect virus biomarkers in exhaled breath given its simplicity and effectiveness. To investigate the capability of electret filters to collect protein biomarkers, a model that consists of an atomizer that produces protein aerosol and an electret filter that collects albumin and carcinoembryonic antigen-a typical biomarker in lung cancer development- from the atomizer is developed. A device using electret filter as the collecting medium is designed to collect human albumin from exhaled breath of 6 volunteers. Comparison of the collecting ability between the electret filter method and other 2 reported methods is finally performed based on the amounts of albumin collected from human exhaled breath. In conclusion, a decreasing collection efficiency ranging from 17.6% to 2.3% for atomized albumin aerosol and 42% to 12.5% for atomized carcinoembryonic antigen particles is found; moreover, an optimum volume of sampling human exhaled breath ranging from 100 L to 200 L is also observed; finally, the self-designed collecting device shows a significantly better performance in collecting albumin from human exhaled breath than the exhaled breath condensate method (p0.05. In summary, electret filters are potential in collecting non-volatile biomarkers in human exhaled breath not only because it was simpler, cheaper and easier to use than traditional methods but also for its better collecting performance.

Hydrogen peroxide release and acid-base status in exhaled breath condensate at rest and after maximal exercise in young, healthy subjects

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Marek E

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objective Exhaled breath condensate (EBC contains among a large number of mediators hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 as a marker of airway inflammation and oxidative stress. Similarly EBC pH also changes in respiratory diseases. It was the aim of our investigation to prove if hydrogen peroxide release and changes in pH of EBC changes with exercise. Methods EBC was collected from 100 litres exhaled air along with samples of arterialized blood of 16 healthy subjects (9 males, 7 females, age 23 ± 1 years. EBC hydrogen peroxide was analyzed with EcoCheck amperometer (FILT, Berlin. The rate of H2O2 release was calculated from the concentration and collection time. pH and PCO2 in blood and in EBC were measured with the Radiometer blood gas analyzer, EBC was equilibrated with a gas mixture (5% CO2 in O2. The bicarbonate concentration was calculated according to the law of mass action for CO2 and HCO3- (pK = 6.1. Results H2O2 concentration in EBC was 190 ± 109 nmol/l, and H2O2 release at rest was 31.0 ± 18.3 pmol/min. At maximal exercise, the H2O = concentration in EBC increased to 250 ± 120 nmol/l, and H2O2 release significantly increased at maximal exercise to 84.4 ± 39.9 pmol/min (P 2 equilibrated EBC was at 6.08 ± 0.23 and the [HCO3 -] was 1.03 ± 0.40 mmol/l. At maximum exercise, pH 6.18 ± 0.17 and [HCO3-] 1.23 ± 0.30 mmol/l remained almost unaltered. Conclusions The rate of H2O2 release in EBC increased during exhausting exercise (external load: 300 Watt by a factor of 2, whereas the pH and the bicarbonate concentration of the EBC, equilibrated with 5% CO2 at 37°C were not significantly altered. It has to be proven by further experiments whether there is a linear relationship between the rates of H2O2 release in EBC in graded submaximal exercise.

Dielectric barrier discharge micro-plasma emission spectrometry for the detection of acetone in exhaled breath.

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Yang, Ting; Gao, Dong-Xue; Yu, Yong-Liang; Chen, Ming-Li; Wang, Jian-Hua

2016-01-01

Acetone is a predominant volatile organic compound (VOC) in the exhaled breath and a promising biomarker for diabetes and ketoacidosis. A non-thermal micro-plasma generated in a planar dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) is used as a radiation source for the excitation of gaseous acetone followed by its quantification with optical emission spectrometry (OES). Gaseous acetone can be directly sampled, while liquid acetone is evaporated by heated tungsten coil and then introduced into the DBD micro-plasma by a helium carrier flow for performing optical emission and detection at a 519 nm emission line. In the present study, the exhaled breath is collected and transferred into aqueous medium for sampling. With a sampling volume of 7 μL in a micro-drop, a linear range of 40-1600 mg L(-1) is obtained along with a detection limit of 44 ng and a precision of 5.7% RSD. The present system is successfully applied to the determination of breath acetone for both diabetic patients and healthy volunteers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Diagnosis by Volatile Organic Compounds in Exhaled Breath from Lung Cancer Patients Using Support Vector Machine Algorithm

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Yuichi Sakumura

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Monitoring exhaled breath is a very attractive, noninvasive screening technique for early diagnosis of diseases, especially lung cancer. However, the technique provides insufficient accuracy because the exhaled air has many crucial volatile organic compounds (VOCs at very low concentrations (ppb level. We analyzed the breath exhaled by lung cancer patients and healthy subjects (controls using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS, and performed a subsequent statistical analysis to diagnose lung cancer based on the combination of multiple lung cancer-related VOCs. We detected 68 VOCs as marker species using GC/MS analysis. We reduced the number of VOCs and used support vector machine (SVM algorithm to classify the samples. We observed that a combination of five VOCs (CHN, methanol, CH3CN, isoprene, 1-propanol is sufficient for 89.0% screening accuracy, and hence, it can be used for the design and development of a desktop GC-sensor analysis system for lung cancer.

Diagnosis by Volatile Organic Compounds in Exhaled Breath from Lung Cancer Patients Using Support Vector Machine Algorithm.

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Sakumura, Yuichi; Koyama, Yutaro; Tokutake, Hiroaki; Hida, Toyoaki; Sato, Kazuo; Itoh, Toshio; Akamatsu, Takafumi; Shin, Woosuck

2017-02-04

Monitoring exhaled breath is a very attractive, noninvasive screening technique for early diagnosis of diseases, especially lung cancer. However, the technique provides insufficient accuracy because the exhaled air has many crucial volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at very low concentrations (ppb level). We analyzed the breath exhaled by lung cancer patients and healthy subjects (controls) using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and performed a subsequent statistical analysis to diagnose lung cancer based on the combination of multiple lung cancer-related VOCs. We detected 68 VOCs as marker species using GC/MS analysis. We reduced the number of VOCs and used support vector machine (SVM) algorithm to classify the samples. We observed that a combination of five VOCs (CHN, methanol, CH₃CN, isoprene, 1-propanol) is sufficient for 89.0% screening accuracy, and hence, it can be used for the design and development of a desktop GC-sensor analysis system for lung cancer.

Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of exhaled leukotriene B4 in asthmatic children

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Barnes Peter J

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The role of leukotriene (LT B4, a potent inflammatory mediator, in atopic asthmatic and atopic nonasthmatic children is largely unknown. The lack of a gold standard technique for measuring LTB4 in exhaled breath condensate (EBC has hampered its quantitative assessment in this biological fluid. We sought to measure LTB4 in EBC in atopic asthmatic children and atopic nonasthmatic children. Exhaled nitric oxide (NO was measured as an independent marker of airway inflammation. Methods Fifteen healthy children, 20 atopic nonasthmatic children, 25 steroid-naïve atopic asthmatic children, and 22 atopic asthmatic children receiving inhaled corticosteroids were studied. The study design was of cross-sectional type. Exhaled LTB4 concentrations were measured using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS with a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Exhaled NO was measured by chemiluminescence with a single breath on-line method. LTB4 values were expressed as the total amount (in pg of eicosanoid expired in the 15-minute breath test. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare groups. Results Compared with healthy children [87.5 (82.5–102.5 pg, median and interquartile range], exhaled LTB4 was increased in steroid-naïve atopic asthmatic [255.1 (175.0–314.7 pg, p 4 than steroid-naïve asthmatics [125.0 (25.0–245.0 pg vs 255.1 (175.0–314.7 pg, p Conclusion In contrast to exhaled NO concentrations, exhaled LTB4 values are selectively elevated in steroid-naïve atopic asthmatic children, but not in atopic nonasthmatic children. Although placebo control studies are warranted, inhaled corticosteroids seem to reduce exhaled LTB4 in asthmatic children. LC/MS/MS analysis of exhaled LTB4 might provide a non-invasive, sensitive, and quantitative method for airway inflammation assessment in asthmatic children.

Markers of oxidative stress in exhaled breath of workers exposed to iron oxide nanoparticles are elevated

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelclová, D.; Fenclová, Z.; Navrátil, Tomáš; Vlčková, Š.; Syslová, K.; Kuzma, Marek; Ždímal, Vladimír; Schwarz, Jaroslav; Pušman, Jan; Zíková, Naděžda; Zakharov, S.; Machajová, M.; Kačer, P.

2014-01-01

Roč. 7, Suppl. 1 (2014), s. 69-70 ISSN 1337-6853 Institutional support: RVO:61388971 ; RVO:61388955 ; RVO:67985858 Keywords : oxidative stress * exhaled breath * nanoparticles Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry

Elevated carbon monoxide in the exhaled breath of mice during a systemic bacterial infection.

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Alan G Barbour

Full Text Available Blood is the specimen of choice for most laboratory tests for diagnosis and disease monitoring. Sampling exhaled breath is a noninvasive alternative to phlebotomy and has the potential for real-time monitoring at the bedside. Improved instrumentation has advanced breath analysis for several gaseous compounds from humans. However, application to small animal models of diseases and physiology has been limited. To extend breath analysis to mice, we crafted a means for collecting nose-only breath samples from groups and individual animals who were awake. Samples were subjected to gas chromatography and mass spectrometry procedures developed for highly sensitive analysis of trace volatile organic compounds (VOCs in the atmosphere. We evaluated the system with experimental systemic infections of severe combined immunodeficiency Mus musculus with the bacterium Borrelia hermsii. Infected mice developed bacterial densities of ∼10(7 per ml of blood by day 4 or 5 and in comparison to uninfected controls had hepatosplenomegaly and elevations of both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. While 12 samples from individual infected mice on days 4 and 5 and 6 samples from uninfected mice did not significantly differ for 72 different VOCs, carbon monoxide (CO was elevated in samples from infected mice, with a mean (95% confidence limits effect size of 4.2 (2.8-5.6, when differences in CO2 in the breath were taken into account. Normalized CO values declined to the uninfected range after one day of treatment with the antibiotic ceftriaxone. Strongly correlated with CO in the breath were levels of heme oxygenase-1 protein in serum and HMOX1 transcripts in whole blood. These results (i provide further evidence of the informativeness of CO concentration in the exhaled breath during systemic infection and inflammation, and (ii encourage evaluation of this noninvasive analytic approach in other various other rodent models of infection and for utility in

Diet-derived changes by sourdough-fermented rye bread in exhaled breath aspiration ion mobility spectrometry profiles in individuals with mild gastrointestinal symptoms.

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Raninen, Kaisa; Lappi, Jenni; Kolehmainen, Mikko; Kolehmainen, Marjukka; Mykkänen, Hannu; Poutanen, Kaisa; Raatikainen, Olavi

2017-12-01

The potential of utilising exhaled breath volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles in studying diet-derived metabolic changes was examined. After a four-week initial diet period with white wheat bread (WW), seven participants received in randomised order high-fibre diets containing sourdough whole grain rye bread (WGR) or white wheat bread enriched with bioprocessed rye bran (WW + BRB), both for 4 weeks. Alveolar exhaled breath samples were analysed with ChemPro ® 100i analyser (Environics OY, Mikkeli, Finland) at the end of each diet period in fasting state and after a standardised meal. The AIMS signal intensities in fasting state were different after the WGR diet as compared to other diets. The result suggests that WGR has metabolic effects not completely explained by the rye fibre content of the diet. This study encourages to utilise the exhaled breath VOC profile analysis as an early screening tool in studying physiological functionality of foods.

Experimental setup and analytical methods for the non-invasive determination of volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde and NOx in exhaled human breath

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riess, Ulrich; Tegtbur, Uwe; Fauck, Christian; Fuhrmann, Frank; Markewitz, Doreen; Salthammer, Tunga

2010-01-01

Different analytical devices were tested and evaluated for their suitability of breath gas analysis by examining the physiological parameters and chemical substances in the exhaled breath of ten healthy probands during light cycling in dependence of methanol-rich nutrition. The probands exercised under normal breathing conditions on a bicycle ergometer. Breath air was exhaled into a glass cylinder and collected under steady-state conditions. Non-invasively measured parameters were pulse rate, breath frequency, temperature, relative humidity, NO x , total volatile organic compounds (TVOC PAS ), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), formaldehyde, methanol, acetaldehyde, acetone, isoprene and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Methanol rich food and beverages strongly influenced the concentration of methanol and other organic substances in human breath. On the other hand, nutrition and smoking had no clear effect on the physical conditions of the probands. The proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) method was found to be very suitable for the analysis of breath gas but the m/z 31, if assigned to formaldehyde, is sensitive to interferences. The time vs. concentration curves of nitric oxide showed sudden peaks up to 120 ppb in most of the measurements. In one case a strong interference of the NO x signal was observed. The time resolved analysis of exhaled breath gas is of high capability and significance for different applications if reliable analytical techniques are used. Some compounds like nitric oxide (NO), methanol, different VOCs as well as sum parameters like TVOC PAS are especially suitable as markers. Formaldehyde, which is rapidly metabolized in the human body, could be measured reliably as a trace component by the acetylacetone (acac) method but not by PTR-MS.

A widely tunable, near-infrared laser-based trace gas sensor for hydrogen cyanide (HCN) detection in exhaled breath

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Azhar, M.; Mandon, J.; Neerincx, A. H.; Liu, Z.; Mink, J.; Merkus, P. J. F. M.; Cristescu, S. M.; Harren, F. J. M.

2017-11-01

A compact, cost-effective sensor is developed for detection of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in exhaled breath within seconds. For this, an off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy setup is combined with a widely tunable compact near-infrared laser (tunability 1527-1564 nm). For HCN a detection sensitivity has been obtained of 8 ppbv in nitrogen (within 1 s), equal to a noise equivalent absorption sensitivity of 1.9 × 10-9 cm-1 Hz-1/2. With this sensor we demonstrated the presence of HCN in exhaled breath; its detection could be a good indicator for bacterial lung infection. Due to its compact, cost-effective and user-friendly design, this laser-based sensor has the potential to be implemented in future clinical applications.

Real time detection of exhaled human breath using quantum cascade laser based sensor technology

Science.gov (United States)

Tittel, Frank K.; Lewicki, Rafal; Dong, Lei; Liu, Kun; Risby, Terence H.; Solga, Steven; Schwartz, Tim

2012-02-01

The development and performance of a cw, TE-cooled DFB quantum cascade laser based sensor for quantitative measurements of ammonia (NH3) and nitric oxide (NO) concentrations present in exhaled breath will be reported. Human breath contains ~ 500 different chemical species, usually at ultra low concentration levels, which can serve as biomarkers for the identification and monitoring of human diseases or wellness states. By monitoring NH3 concentration levels in exhaled breath a fast, non-invasive diagnostic method for treatment of patients with liver and kidney disorders, is feasible. The NH3 concentration measurements were performed with a 2f wavelength modulation quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) technique, which is suitable for real time breath measurements, due to the fast gas exchange inside a compact QEPAS gas cell. A Hamamatsu air-cooled high heat load (HHL) packaged CW DFB-QCL is operated at 17.5°C, targeting the optimum interference free NH3 absorption line at 967.35 cm-1 (λ~10.34 μm), with ~ 20 mW of optical power. The sensor architecture includes a reference cell, filled with a 2000 ppmv NH3 :N2 mixture at 130 Torr, which is used for absorption line-locking. A minimum detection limit (1σ) for the line locked NH3 sensor is ~ 6 ppbv (with a 1σ 1 sec time resolution of the control electronics). This NH3 sensor was installed in late 2010 and is being clinically tested at St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem, PA.

Profile of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath changes as a result of gluten-free diet

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baranska, Agnieszka; Tigchelaar, Ettje; Smolinska, Agnieszka; Dallinga, Jan W.; Moonen, Edwin J. C.; Dekens, Jackie A. M.; Wijmenga, Cisca; Zhernakova, Alexandra; van Schooten, Frederik J.

In the present longitudinal study, we followed volatile organic compounds (VOCs) excreted in exhaled breath of 20 healthy individuals over time, while adhering to a gluten-free diet for 4 weeks prior to adherence to a normal diet. We used gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry

Increase of methanol in exhaled breath quantified by SIFT-MS following aspartame ingestion.

Science.gov (United States)

Španěl, Patrik; Dryahina, Kseniya; Vicherková, Petra; Smith, David

2015-11-19

Aspartame, methyl-L-α-aspartyl-L-phenylalaninate, is used worldwide as a sweetener in foods and drinks and is considered to be safe at an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 40 mg per kg of body weight. This compound is completely hydrolyzed in the gastrointestinal tract to aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol, each being toxic at high levels. The objective of the present study was to quantify the volatile methanol component in the exhaled breath of ten healthy volunteers following the ingestion of a single ADI dose of aspartame. Direct on-line measurements of methanol concentration were made in the mouth and nose breath exhalations using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, SIFT-MS, several times before aspartame ingestion in order to establish individual pre-dose (baseline) levels and then during two hours post-ingestion to track their initial increase and subsequent decrease. The results show that breath methanol concentrations increased in all volunteers by 1082   ±   205 parts-per-billion by volume (ppbv) from their pre-ingestion values, which ranged from 193 to 436 ppbv to peak values ranging from 981-1622 ppbv, from which they slowly decreased. These observations agree quantitatively with a predicted increase of 1030 ppbv estimated using a one-compartment model of uniform dilution of the methanol generated from a known amount of aspartame throughout the total body water (including blood). In summary, an ADI dose of aspartame leads to a 3-6 fold increase of blood methanol concentration above the individual baseline values.

Measurement of endogenous acetone and isoprene in exhaled breath during sleep

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, Julian; Kupferthaler, Alexander; Unterkofler, Karl; Amann, Anton; Frauscher, Birgit; Hackner, Heinz; Högl, Birgit; Teschl, Gerald; Hinterhuber, Hartmann

2012-01-01

This explorative study aims at characterizing the breath behavior of two prototypic volatile organic compounds, acetone and isoprene, during normal human sleep and to possibly relate changes in the respective concentration time courses to the underlying sleep architecture. For this purpose, six normal healthy volunteers (two females, four males, age 20–29 years) were monitored over two consecutive nights (the first one being an adaption night) by combining real-time proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry measurements from end-tidal exhalation segments with laboratory-based polysomnographic data. Breath acetone concentrations increased overnight in all measurements, with an average relative change by a factor of up to 4 (median 2.5). Nighttime concentration maxima were usually recorded 2–3 h before lights on. For breath isoprene, a nocturnal increase in baseline concentrations of about 74% was observed, with individual changes ranging from 36–110%. Isoprene profiles exhibited pronounced concentration peaks, which were highly specific for leg movements as scored by tibial electromyography. Furthermore, relative to a linear trend, baseline isoprene concentrations decreased during the transition from the NREM to the REM phase of a complete sleep cycle. (paper)

Experimental setup and analytical methods for the non-invasive determination of volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde and NO{sub x} in exhaled human breath

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Riess, Ulrich; Tegtbur, Uwe [Hannover Medical School, Sports Physiology and Sports Medicine, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover (Germany); Fauck, Christian; Fuhrmann, Frank; Markewitz, Doreen [Fraunhofer WKI, Department of Material Analysis and Indoor Chemistry, Bienroder Weg 54 E, 38108 Braunschweig (Germany); Salthammer, Tunga, E-mail: tunga.salthammer@wki.fraunhofer.de [Fraunhofer WKI, Department of Material Analysis and Indoor Chemistry, Bienroder Weg 54 E, 38108 Braunschweig (Germany)

2010-06-11

Different analytical devices were tested and evaluated for their suitability of breath gas analysis by examining the physiological parameters and chemical substances in the exhaled breath of ten healthy probands during light cycling in dependence of methanol-rich nutrition. The probands exercised under normal breathing conditions on a bicycle ergometer. Breath air was exhaled into a glass cylinder and collected under steady-state conditions. Non-invasively measured parameters were pulse rate, breath frequency, temperature, relative humidity, NO{sub x}, total volatile organic compounds (TVOC{sub PAS}), carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}), formaldehyde, methanol, acetaldehyde, acetone, isoprene and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Methanol rich food and beverages strongly influenced the concentration of methanol and other organic substances in human breath. On the other hand, nutrition and smoking had no clear effect on the physical conditions of the probands. The proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) method was found to be very suitable for the analysis of breath gas but the m/z 31, if assigned to formaldehyde, is sensitive to interferences. The time vs. concentration curves of nitric oxide showed sudden peaks up to 120 ppb in most of the measurements. In one case a strong interference of the NO{sub x} signal was observed. The time resolved analysis of exhaled breath gas is of high capability and significance for different applications if reliable analytical techniques are used. Some compounds like nitric oxide (NO), methanol, different VOCs as well as sum parameters like TVOC{sub PAS} are especially suitable as markers. Formaldehyde, which is rapidly metabolized in the human body, could be measured reliably as a trace component by the acetylacetone (acac) method but not by PTR-MS.

The validity of tympanic and exhaled breath temperatures for core temperature measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flouris, Andreas D; Cheung, Stephen S

2010-01-01

We examined the efficacy of tympanic (T ty ) and exhaled breath (T X ) temperatures as indices of rectal temperature (T re ) by applying heat (condition A) and cold (condition B) in a dynamic A-B-A-B sequence. Fifteen healthy adults (8 men; 7 women; 24.9 ± 4.6 years) volunteered. Following a 15 min baseline period, participants entered a water tank maintained at 42 °C water temperature and passively rested until their T re increased by 0.5 °C above baseline. Thereafter, they entered a different water tank maintained at 12 °C water temperature until their T re decreased by 0.5 °C below baseline. This procedure was repeated twice (i.e. A-B-A-B). T ty demonstrated moderate response delays to the repetitive changes in thermal balance, whereas T X and T re responded relatively fast. Both T ty and T X correlated significantly with T re (P < 0.05). Linear regression models were used to predict T re based on T ty and T X . The predicted values from both models correlated significantly with T re (P < 0.05) and followed the changes in T re during the A-B-A-B thermal protocol. While some mean differences with T re were observed (P < 0.05), the 95% limits of agreement were acceptable for both models. It is concluded that the calculated models based on tympanic and exhaled breath temperature are valid indicators of core temperature. (note)

Exhaled human breath measurement method for assessing exposure to halogenated volatile organic compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Pleil, J D; Lindstrom, A B

1997-05-01

The organic constituents of exhaled human breath are representative of blood-borne concentrations through gas exchange in the blood/breath interface in the lungs. The presence of specific compounds can be an indicator of recent exposure or represent a biological response of the subject. For volatile organic compounds (VOCs), sampling and analysis of breath is preferred to direct measurement from blood samples because breath collection is noninvasive, potentially infectious waste is avoided, and the measurement of gas-phase analytes is much simpler in a gas matrix rather than in a complex biological tissue such as blood. To exploit these advantages, we have developed the "single breath canister" (SBC) technique, a simple direct collection method for individual alveolar breath samples, and adapted conventional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analytical methods for trace-concentration VOC analysis. The focus of this paper is to describe briefly the techniques for making VOC measurements in breath, to present some specific applications for which these methods are relevant, and to demonstrate how to estimate exposure to example VOCs on the basis of breath elimination. We present data from three different exposure scenarios: (a) vinyl chloride and cis-1,2-dichloroethene from showering with contaminated water from a private well, (b) chloroform and bromodichloromethane from high-intensity swimming in chlorinated pool water, and (c) trichloroethene from a controlled exposure chamber experiment. In all cases, for all subjects, the experiment is the same: preexposure breath measurement, exposure to halogenated VOC, and a postexposure time-dependent series of breath measurements. Data are presented only to demonstrate the use of the method and how to interpret the analytical results.

Assessing the efficacy of immunotherapy with a glutaraldehyde-modified house dust mite extract in children by monitoring changes in clinical parameters and inflammatory markers in exhaled breath.

Science.gov (United States)

Lozano, Jaime; Cruz, María-Jesús; Piquer, Mónica; Giner, Maria-Teresa; Plaza, Ana María

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of specific immunotherapy (SIT) management with allergoids in children with allergic asthma by monitoring changes in clinical parameters and inflammatory markers in exhaled breath. The study population included 43 patients (24 males) of 6-14 years of age, who had allergic asthma and were sensitized to mites. Twenty-three individuals were treated with subcutaneous SIT (PURETHAL® Mites, HAL Allergy) for 8 months, i.e. the SIT group, and 20 were given medication to treat symptoms only, i.e. the control group. Before treatment and after 4 and 8 months, several clinical parameters, the levels of exhaled nitric oxide and the pH of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) were determined. The SIT group presented with an improvement in asthma classification, a reduction in maintenance drug therapy and improved scores on the quality-of-life questionnaire. These changes were not observed in the control group. Both groups presented significant decreases in EBC pH values at 4 and 8 months after treatment compared to at baseline. However, analysis of the variable 'ratio' showed an increase in the EBC pH values after 8 months of treatment in the SIT group compared with the values at 4 months. SIT with standardized mite extract reduces asthma symptoms in children. A decrease in EBC pH values was observed in both groups, although the SIT group presented a tendency of recovered values after 8 months. Future studies of EBC pH monitoring in the longer term are needed to determine the effectiveness of this marker. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Mutual information based CT registration of the lung at exhale and inhale breathing states using thin-plate splines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coselmon, Martha M.; Balter, James M.; McShan, Daniel L.; Kessler, Marc L.

2004-01-01

The advent of dynamic radiotherapy modeling and treatment techniques requires an infrastructure to weigh the merits of various interventions (breath holding, gating, tracking). The creation of treatment planning models that account for motion and deformation can allow the relative worth of such techniques to be evaluated. In order to develop a treatment planning model of a moving and deforming organ such as the lung, registration tools that account for deformation are required. We tested the accuracy of a mutual information based image registration tool using thin-plate splines driven by the selection of control points and iterative alignment according to a simplex algorithm. Eleven patients each had sequential CT scans at breath-held normal inhale and exhale states. The exhale right lung was segmented from CT and served as the reference model. For each patient, thirty control points were used to align the inhale CT right lung to the exhale CT right lung. Alignment accuracy (the standard deviation of the difference in the actual and predicted inhale position) was determined from locations of vascular and bronchial bifurcations, and found to be 1.7, 3.1, and 3.6 mm about the RL, AP, and IS directions. The alignment accuracy was significantly different from the amount of measured movement during breathing only in the AP and IS directions. The accuracy of alignment including thin-plate splines was more accurate than using affine transformations and the same iteration and scoring methodology. This technique shows promise for the future development of dynamic models of the lung for use in four-dimensional (4-D) treatment planning

Influence of Sensory Stimulation on Exhaled Volatile Organic Compounds.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazzatenta, A; Pokorski, M; Di Tano, A; Cacchio, M; Di Giulio, C

2016-01-01

The real-time exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have been suggested as a new biomarker to detect and monitor physiological processes in the respiratory system. The VOCs profile in exhaled breath reflects the biochemical alterations related to metabolic changes, organ failure, and neuronal activity, which are, at least in part, transmitted via the lungs to the alveolar exhaled breath. Breath analysis has been applied to investigate cancer, lung failure, and neurodegenerative diseases. There are by far no studies on the real-time monitoring of VOCs in sensory stimulation in healthy subjects. Therefore, in this study we investigated the breath parameters and exhaled VOCs in humans during sensory stimulation: smell, hearing, sight, and touch. Responses sensory stimulations were recorded in 12 volunteers using an iAQ-2000 sensor. We found significant effects of sensory stimulation. In particular, olfactory stimulation was the most effective stimulus that elicited the greatest VOCs variations in the exhaled breath. Since the olfactory pathway is distinctly driven by the hypothalamic and limbic circuitry, while other senses project first to the thalamic area and then re-project to other brain areas, the findings suggest the importance of olfaction and chemoreception in the regulation lung gas exchange. VOCs variations during sensory activation may become putative indicators of neural activity.

Dispersal of Exhaled Air and Personal Exposure in Displacement Ventilated Rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørn, Erik; Nielsen, Peter Vilhelm

2002-01-01

The influence of the human exhalation on flow fields, contaminant distributions, and personal exposures in displacement ventilated rooms is studied together with the effects of physical movement. Experiments are conducted in full-scale test rooms with life-sized breathing thermal manikins....... Numerical simulations support the experiments. Air exhaled through the mouth can lock in a thermally stratified layer, if the vertical temperature gradient in breathing zone height is sufficiently large. With exhalation through the nose, exhaled air flows to the upper part of the room. The exhalation flow...

New method for single-breath fraction of exhaled nitric oxide measurement with improved feasibility in preschool children with asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

Heijkenskjöld-Rentzhog, Charlotte; Kalm-Stephens, Pia; Nordvall, Lennart; Malinovschi, Andrei; Alving, Kjell

2015-11-01

Respiratory societies recommend use of standardized methodologies for fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) measurements in adults and children, but in preschoolers, feasibility remains a problem. The exhalation time needed to obtain steady-state FeNO is unclear. Our primary aim was to study the feasibility of an adapted single-breath FeNO method with age-adjusted exhalation times. We also studied the association between time to steady-state NO level and height, as well as FeNO in relation to asthma and current treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). Sixty-three children aged 3-10 years performed FeNO measurements with a hand-held electrochemical device with a newly developed flow-control unit. Exhalation times were pre-adapted to age. Exhaled air was simultaneously sampled to a chemiluminescence analyzer to measure time to steady-state NO level. Eighty-one percent of the children achieved at least one approved measurement. From 4 years upwards, success rate was high (96%). Time to steady-state [NO] (median and interquartile range) was 2.5 s (2.4-3.5) at the age of 3-4 years and 3.5 s (2.7-3.8) at the age of 5-6 years. Height was associated with time to steady state (r(2) = 0.13, p = 0.02). FeNO (geometric mean [95% CI]) was higher in ICS-naïve asthmatic children (n = 19): 15.9 p.p.b. (12.2-20.9), than in both healthy controls (n = 8) 9.1 p.p.b. (6.6-12.4) and asthmatic subjects on treatment (n = 24) 11.5 p.p.b. (9.7-13.6). We found this adapted single-breath method with age-adjusted exhalation times highly feasible for children aged 4-10 years. ICS-naïve asthmatic children had FeNO levels under the current guideline cutoff level (20 p.p.b.), highlighting the importance of taking age into account when setting reference values. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Exhaled Breath Metabolomics for the Diagnosis of Pneumonia in Intubated and Mechanically-Ventilated Intensive Care Unit (ICU-Patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pouline M. P. van Oort

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The diagnosis of hospital-acquired pneumonia remains challenging. We hypothesized that analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs in exhaled breath could be used to diagnose pneumonia or the presence of pathogens in the respiratory tract in intubated and mechanically-ventilated intensive care unit patients. In this prospective, single-centre, cross-sectional cohort study breath from mechanically ventilated patients was analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Potentially relevant VOCs were selected with a p-value < 0.05 and an area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC above 0.7. These VOCs were used for principal component analysis and partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA. AUROC was used as a measure of accuracy. Ninety-three patients were included in the study. Twelve of 145 identified VOCs were significantly altered in patients with pneumonia compared to controls. In colonized patients, 52 VOCs were significantly different. Partial least square discriminant analysis classified patients with modest accuracy (AUROC: 0.73 (95% confidence interval (CI: 0.57–0.88 after leave-one-out cross-validation. For determining the colonization status of patients, the model had an AUROC of 0.69 (95% CI: 0.57–0.82 after leave-one-out cross-validation. To conclude, exhaled breath analysis can be used to discriminate pneumonia from controls with a modest to good accuracy. Furthermore breath profiling could be used to predict the presence and absence of pathogens in the respiratory tract. These findings need to be validated externally.

Compounds enhanced in a mass spectrometric profile of smokers' exhaled breath versus non-smokers as determined in a pilot study using PTR-MS.

Science.gov (United States)

Kushch, Ievgeniia; Schwarz, Konrad; Schwentner, Lukas; Baumann, Bettina; Dzien, Alexander; Schmid, Alex; Unterkofler, Karl; Gastl, Günter; Spaněl, Patrik; Smith, David; Amann, Anton

2008-06-01

A pilot study has been carried out to define typical characteristics of the trace gas compounds in exhaled breath of non-smokers and smokers to assist interpretation of breath analysis data from patients who smoke with respiratory diseases and lung cancer. Exhaled breath was analyzed using proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) for 370 volunteers (81 smokers, 210 non-smokers, 79 ex-smokers). Volatile organic compounds corresponding to product ions at seven mass-to-charge ratios (m/z 28, 42, 69, 79, 93, 97, 123) in the PTR-MS spectra differentiated between smokers and non-smokers. The Youden index (= maximum of sensitivity + specificity - 1, YI) as a measure for differentiation between smokers and non-smokers was YI = 0.43 for ions at the m/z values 28 (tentatively identified as HCN), YI = 0.75 for m/z = 42 (tentatively identified as acetonitrile) and YI = 0.53 for m/z = 79 (tentatively identified as benzene). No statistically significant difference between smokers and non-smokers was observed for the product ions at m/z = 31 and 33 (compounds tentatively identified as formaldehyde and methanol). When interpreting the exhaled breath of lung cancer or COPD patients, who often smoke, compounds appearing at the above-mentioned seven mass-to-charge ratios should be considered with appropriate care to avoid misdiagnosis. Validation studies in larger numbers of patients with more precise delineation of their smoking behavior and using additional analytical techniques such as GC/MS and SIFT-MS should be carried out.

Profiling of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath as a strategy to find early predictive signatures of asthma in children.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnieszka Smolinska

Full Text Available Wheezing is one of the most common respiratory symptoms in preschool children under six years old. Currently, no tests are available that predict at early stage who will develop asthma and who will be a transient wheezer. Diagnostic tests of asthma are reliable in adults but the same tests are difficult to use in children, because they are invasive and require active cooperation of the patient. A non-invasive alternative is needed for children. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs excreted in breath could yield such non-invasive and patient-friendly diagnostic. The aim of this study was to identify VOCs in the breath of preschool children (inclusion at age 2-4 years that indicate preclinical asthma. For that purpose we analyzed the total array of exhaled VOCs with Gas Chromatography time of flight Mass Spectrometry of 252 children between 2 and 6 years of age. Breath samples were collected at multiple time points of each child. Each breath-o-gram contained between 300 and 500 VOCs; in total 3256 different compounds were identified across all samples. Using two multivariate methods, Random Forests and dissimilarity Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis, we were able to select a set of 17 VOCs which discriminated preschool asthmatic children from transient wheezing children. The correct prediction rate was equal to 80% in an independent test set. These VOCs are related to oxidative stress caused by inflammation in the lungs and consequently lipid peroxidation. In conclusion, we showed that VOCs in the exhaled breath predict the subsequent development of asthma which might guide early treatment.

Breath condensate levels of 8-isoprostane and leukotriene B4 after ozone inhalation are greater in sensitive versus nonsensitive subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Alfaro, Mario F; Walby, William F; Adams, William C; Schelegle, Edward S

2007-01-01

Ozone (O3) inhalation induces pulmonary function decrements and inflammation. The present study was designed to determine if a relationship exists between O3 induced pulmonary function changes and the presence of inflammatory markers as measured in exhaled breath condensates (EBCs) obtained from O3-sensitive and nonsensitive human subjects. Eight healthy adult volunteers (4 males/4 females, age 18 to 30 years) were studied, characterized as to their ozone sensitivity and placed into 2 groups (sensitive and nonsensitive) with each group having 2 males and 2 females. Subjects completed a 20-minute EBC collection and pulmonary function test (PFT) prior to a single 60-minute bout of cycle ergometer exercise (V(E) = 50-55 L/min) while breathing filtered air (FA) or 0.35 ppm O3. Subjective symptom scores (SSSs) were collected at 6, 20, 40, and 60 minutes during exposure. An immediate postexposure PFT was performed followed by an EBC collection. Subjective symptom scores, EBCs, and PFTs were collected at 1, 4 and 8 hours post exposure. EBCs were analyzed for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), leukotriene B4 (LTB4), 8-isoprostane, and total nitric oxide (NO) metabolites (nitrate + nitrite content). Sensitive subjects, breathing O3, had significantly greater functional decrements in PFTs, increased SSSs, and increased rapid shallow breathing as well as elevated levels of 8-isoprostane and LTB4 in EBCs compared to those breathing FA. In addition, there were significant increases in nitrate + nitrite content in both sensitive and nonsensitive subjects breathing O3 compared to FA. These results indicate that sensitive subjects have elevated arachidonic acid metabolites in EBCs compared to nonsensitive subjects after O3 inhalation.

Method for incorporation monitoring - Studies on measurement and interpretation of radionuclide excretion, particularly thorium decay products, via exhaled breath

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon

1998-01-01

The development and application of a measuring method is described for thorium incorporation monitoring by way of measuring Rn-220 (thoron) in exhaled breath. The method is intended for application to monitoring the incorporation of thorium by occupationally exposed persons in compliance with the regulatory guide on health physics monitoring for determination of whole-body dose. (orig./CB) [de

Impacts of exhalation flow on the microenvironment around the human body under different room temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Jafari, Mohammad Javad; Gharari, Noradin; Azari, Mansour Rezazade; Ashrafi, Khosro

2018-04-01

Exhalation flow and room temperature can have a considerable effect on the microenvironment in the vicinity of human body. In this study, impacts of exhalation flow and room temperature on the microenvironment around a human body were investigated using a numerical simulation. For this purpose, a computational fluid dynamic program was applied to study thermal plume around a sitting human body at different room temperatures of a calm indoor room by considering the exhalation flow. The simulation was supported by some experimental measurements. Six different room temperatures (18 to 28 °C) with two nose exhalation modes (exhalation and non-exhalation) were investigated. Overhead and breathing zone velocities and temperatures were simulated in different scenarios. This study finds out that the exhalation through the nose has a significant impact on both quantitative and qualitative features of the human microenvironment in different room temperatures. At a given temperature, the exhalation through the nose can change the location and size of maximum velocity at the top of the head. In the breathing zone, the effect of exhalation through the nose on velocity and temperature distribution was pronounced for the point close to mouth. Also, the exhalation through the nose strongly influences the thermal boundary layer on the breathing zone while it only minimally influences the convective boundary layer on the breathing zone. Overall results demonstrate that it is important to take the exhalation flow into consideration in all areas, especially at a quiescent flow condition with low temperature.

Using a chemiresistor-based alkane sensor to distinguish exhaled breaths of lung cancer patients from subjects with no lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Jiunn-Liang; Yong, Zheng-Xin; Liam, Chong-Kin

2016-10-01

Breath alkanes are reported to be able to discriminate lung cancer patients from healthy people. A simple chemiresistor-based sensor was designed to respond to alkanes by a change in resistance measured by a digital multimeter connected to the sensor. In preclinical experiments, the sensor response was found to have a strong positive linear relationship with alkane compounds and not responsive to water. This study aimed to determine the ability of the alkane sensor to distinguish the exhaled breaths of lung cancer patients from that of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and control subjects without lung cancer. In this cross-sectional study, 12 treatment-naive patients with lung cancer, 12 ex- or current smokers with COPD and 13 never-smokers without lung disease were asked to exhale through a drinking straw into a prototype breath-in apparatus made from an empty 125 mL Vitagen ® bottle with the chemiresistor sensor attached at its inside bottom to measure the sensor peak output (percentage change of baseline resistance measured before exhalation to peak resistance) and the time taken for the baseline resistance to reach peak resistance. Analysis of multivariate variance and post-hoc Tukey test revealed that the peak output and the time to peak values for the lung cancer patients were statistically different from that for both the COPD patients and the controls without lung disease, Pillai's Trace =0.393, F=3.909, df = (4, 64), P=0.007. A 2.20% sensor peak output and a 90-s time to peak gave 83.3% sensitivity and 88% specificity in diagnosing lung cancer. Tobacco smoking did not affect the diagnostic accuracy of the sensor. The alkane sensor could discriminate patients with lung cancer from COPD patients and people without lung disease. Its potential utility as a simple, cheap and non-invasive test for early lung cancer detection needs further studies.

Exhaled breath analysis using electronic nose in cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia patients with chronic pulmonary infections

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Joensen, Odin; Paff, Tamara; Haarman, Eric G

2014-01-01

The current diagnostic work-up and monitoring of pulmonary infections may be perceived as invasive, is time consuming and expensive. In this explorative study, we investigated whether or not a non-invasive exhaled breath analysis using an electronic nose would discriminate between cystic fibrosis...... (CF) and primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) with or without various well characterized chronic pulmonary infections. We recruited 64 patients with CF and 21 with PCD based on known chronic infection status. 21 healthy volunteers served as controls. An electronic nose was employed to analyze exhaled......, this method significantly discriminates CF patients suffering from a chronic pulmonary P. aeruginosa (PA) infection from CF patients without a chronic pulmonary infection. Further studies are needed for verification and to investigate the role of electronic nose technology in the very early diagnostic workup...

Evaluation of exhaled nitric oxide in schoolchildren at different exhalation flow rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Pedroletti, Christophe; Zetterquist, Wilhelm; Nordvall, Lennart; Alving, Kjell

2002-09-01

Nitric oxide (NO) in exhaled air is believed to reflect allergic inflammation in the airways. Measured levels of exhaled NO vary with the exhaled flow rate, which therefore must be standardized. The aim of this study was to estimate the optimal exhalation flow rate when measuring NO in exhaled air. We studied 15 asthmatic children (8-18 y) with elevated NO levels and 15 age-matched controls and focused on how the quality of the NO curve profile, the discriminatory power, and the reproducibility were influenced by the exhalation flow rate. We used an on-line system for NO measurements at six different exhalation flow rates in the interval of 11-382 mL/s. The fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) was highly flow-dependent as was expected. Intermediate flow rates yielded a flat and stable NO plateau and were considerably easier to interpret than those obtained at the highest and lowest flow rates. The ratio of FENO between asthmatics and controls was lower at higher flow rates and a considerable overlap in NO values was demonstrated at all flow rates except 50 mL/s. The reproducibility was much lower at more extreme flow rates and was best at 50 mL/s. We conclude that a target exhalation flow rate of approximately 50 mL/s is to be preferred using the single-breath method for on-line NO measurements in schoolchildren.

Variability of breath condensate pH may contribute to the better understanding of non-allergic seasonal respiratory diseases

Science.gov (United States)

Kullmann, Tamás; Szipőcs, Annamária

2017-09-01

The seasonal variability of certain non-allergic respiratory diseases is not clearly understood. Analysis of the breath condensate, the liquid that can be collected by breathing into a cold tube, has been proposed to bring closer to the understanding of airway pathologies. It has been assumed, that (1) airway lining fluid was a stable body liquid and (2) the breath condensate samples were representative of the airway lining fluid. Research was focussed on the identification of biomarkers indicative of respiratory pathologies. Despite 30 years of extended investigations breath condensate analysis has not gained any clinical implementation so far. The pH of the condensate is the characteristic that can be determined with the highest reproducibility. The present paper shows, that contrary to the initial assumptions, breath condensate is not a representative of the airway lining fluid, and the airway lining fluid is not a stable body liquid. Condensate pH shows baseline variability and it is influenced by drinking and by the ambient temperature. The changes in condensate pH are linked to changes in airway lining fluid pH. The variability of airway lining fluid pH may explain seasonal incidence of certain non-allergic respiratory diseases such as the catching of a common cold and the increased incidence of COPD exacerbations and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in cold periods.

Quantification of volatile organic compounds in exhaled human breath. Acetonitrile as biomarker for passive smoking. Model for isoprene in human breath

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prazeller, P.

2000-03-01

The topic of this thesis is the quantification of volatile organic compounds in human breath under various circumstances. The composition of exhaled breath reflects metabolic processes in the human body. Breath analysis is a non invasive technique which makes it most interesting especially for medical or toxicological applications. Measurements were done with Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass-Spectrometry (PTR-MS). This technique combines the advantage of small fragmentation of chemical ionization with highly time resolved mass spectrometry. A big part of this work is about investigations of exposition due to tobacco smoke. After smoking cigarettes the initial increase and time dependence of some compounds in the human breath are monitored . The calculated decrease resulting only from breathing out the compounds is presented and compared to the measured decline in the breath. This allows the distinction whether breathing is the dominant loss of a compound or a different metabolic process remover it more efficiently. Acetonitrile measured in human breath is presented as a biomarker for exposition to tobacco smoke. Especially its use for quantification of passive smoking, the exposition to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is shown. The reached accuracy and the fast way of measuring of acetonitrile in human breath using PTR-MS offer a good alternative to common used biomarkers. Numerous publications have described measurements of breath isoprene in humans, and there has been a hope that breath isoprene analyses could be a non-invasive diagnostic tool to assess serum cholesterol levels or cholesterol synthesis rate. However, significant analytical problems in breath isoprene analysis and variability in isoprene levels with age, exercise, diet, etc. have limited the usefulness of these measurements. Here, we have applied proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) to this problem, allowing on-line detection of breath isoprene. We show that breath isoprene

Real time ammonia detection in exhaled human breath using a distributed feedback quantum cascade laser based sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Lewicki, Rafał; Kosterev, Anatoliy A.; Thomazy, David M.; Risby, Terence H.; Solga, Steven; Schwartz, Timothy B.; Tittel, Frank K.

2011-01-01

A continuous wave, thermoelectrically cooled, distributed feedback quantum cascade laser (DFB-QCL) based sensor platform for the quantitative detection of ammonia (NH3) concentrations present in exhaled human breath is reported. The NH3 concentration measurements are performed with a 2f wavelength modulation quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) technique, which is very well suited for real time breath analysis, due to the fast gas exchange inside a compact QEPAS gas cell. An air-cooled DFB-QCL was designed to target the interference-free NH3 absorption line located at 967.35 cm-1 (λ~10.34 μm). The laser is operated at 17.5 °C, emitting ~ 24 mW of optical power at the selected wavelength. A 1σ minimum detectable concentration of ammonia for the line-locked NH3 sensor is ~ 6 ppb with 1 sec time resolution. The NH3 sensor, packaged in a 12"x14"x10" housing, is currently installed at a medical breath research center in Bethlehem, PA and tested as an instrument for non-invasive verification of liver and kidney disorders based on human breath samples.

An acetone bio-sniffer (gas phase biosensor) enabling assessment of lipid metabolism from exhaled breath.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Ming; Chien, Po-Jen; Toma, Koji; Arakawa, Takahiro; Mitsubayashi, Kohji

2015-11-15

Several volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are released from human breath or skin. Like chemical substances in blood or urine, some of these vapors can provide valuable information regarding the state of the human body. A highly sensitive acetone biochemical gas sensor (bio-sniffer) was developed and used to measure exhaled breath acetone concentration, and assess lipid metabolism based on breath acetone analysis. A fiber-optic biochemical gas sensing system was constructed by attaching a flow-cell with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH)-dependent secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (S-ADH) immobilized membrane onto a fiber-optic NADH measurement system. The NADH measurement system utilizes an ultraviolet-light emitting diode with peak emission of 335 nm as an excitation light source. NADH is consumed by the enzymatic reaction of S-ADH, and the consumption is proportional to the concentration of acetone vapor. Phosphate buffer which contained NADH was circulated into the flow-cell to rinse products and the excessive substrates from the optode. The change of fluorescent emitted from NADH is analyzed by the PMT. Hence, fluorescence intensity decreased as the acetone concentration increased. The relationship between fluorescence intensity and acetone concentration was identified from 20 ppb to 5300 ppb. This interval included the concentration of acetone vapor in the breath of healthy people and those suffering from disorders of carbohydrate metabolism. Finally, the acetone bio-sniffer was used to measure breath acetone during an exercise stress test on an ergometer after a period of fasting. The concentration of acetone in breath was shown to significantly increase after exercise. This biosensor allows rapid, highly sensitive and selective measurement of lipid metabolism. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detection of drugs of abuse in exhaled breath using a device for rapid collection: comparison with plasma, urine and self-reporting in 47 drug users.

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, Olof; Stephanson, Niclas; Sandqvist, Sören; Franck, Johan

2013-06-01

Exhaled breath has recently been identified as a matrix for the detection of drugs of abuse. This work aims to further document this application using a new and simple collection device in patients following recovery from acute intoxication. Breath, plasma and urine samples were collected from 47 patients (38 males, age range 25-74) together with interview data. Analysis of breath and plasma samples was done by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods. Urine was screened using immunochemical reagents and positive findings confirmed with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods. The 12 analytes investigated were: methadone, amphetamine, methamphetamine, 6-acetylmorphine, morphine, benzoylecgonine, cocaine, diazepam, oxazepam, alprazolam, buprenorphine and tetrahydrocannabinol. In all 47 cases, recent intake of an abused substance prior to admission was reported, but in one case the substance (ketobemidone) was not investigated. In 40 of the remaining cases (87%) breath analysis gave a positive finding of any of the substances that were part of the analytical investigation. Identifications were based on correct chromatographic retention time and product ion ratios obtained in selected reaction monitoring mode. In general, data from breath, plasma, urine and self-reporting were in good agreement, but in 23% of the cases substances were detected that had not been self-reported. All substances covered were detected in a number of breath samples. Considering that breath sampling was often done about 24 h after intake, the detection rate was considered to be high for most substances. Analytes with low detection rates were benzodiazepines, and a further increase in analytical sensitivity is needed to overcome this. This study further supports use of exhaled breath as a new matrix in clinical toxicology.

Can dogs smell lung cancer? First study using exhaled breath and urine screening in unselected patients with suspected lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Amundsen, Tore; Sundstrøm, Stein; Buvik, Turid; Gederaas, Odrun Arna; Haaverstad, Rune

2014-03-01

On the basis of our own experience and literature search, we hypothesised that a canine olfactory test may be useful for detecting lung cancer in an unselected population of patients suspected to have lung cancer. We conducted a prospective study of 93 patients consecutively admitted to hospital with suspected lung cancer. Exhaled breath and urine were sampled before the patients underwent bronchoscopy. The canine olfactory test was performed in a double-blinded manner. Sensitivity and specificity were outcome measures. With 99% sensitivity, the olfactory test demonstrated that dogs have the ability to distinguish cancer patients from healthy individuals. With an intensified training procedure, the exhaled breath and urine tests showed sensitivity rates of 56-76% and specificity rates of 8.3-33.3%, respectively, in our heterogeneous study population. Although the olfactory test appears to be a promising tool for the detection of cancer, the main challenge is to determine whether the test can sufficiently discriminate between patients at risk, patients with benign disease, and patients with malignant disease. We need to gain a deeper understanding of this test and further refine it before applying it as a screening tool for lung cancer in clinical settings.

Improvement of CT-based treatment-planning models of abdominal targets using static exhale imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balter, James M.; Lam, Kwok L.; McGinn, Cornealeus J.; Lawrence, Theodore S.; Haken, Randall K. ten

1998-01-01

Purpose: CT-based models of the patient that do not account for the motion of ventilation may not accurately predict the shape and position of critical abdominal structures. Respiratory gating technology for imaging and treatment is not yet widely available. The purpose of the current study is to explore an intermediate step to improve the veracity of the patient model and reduce the treated volume by acquiring the CT data with the patients holding their breath at normal exhale. Methods and Materials: The ventilatory time courses of diaphragm movement for 15 patients (with no special breathing instructions) were measured using digitized movies from the fluoroscope during simulation. A subsequent clinical protocol was developed for treatment based on exhale CT models. CT scans (typically 3.5-mm slice thickness) were acquired at normal exhale using a spiral scanner. The scan volume was divided into two to three segments, to allow the patient to breathe in between. Margins were placed about intrahepatic target volumes based on the ventilatory excursion inferior to the target, and on only the reproducibility of exhale position superior to the target. Results: The average patient's diaphragm remained within 25% of the range of ventilatory excursion from the average exhale position for 42% of the typical breathing cycle, and within 25% of the range from the average inhale position for 15% of the cycle. The reproducibility of exhale position over multiple breathing cycles was 0.9 mm (2σ), as opposed to 2.6 mm for inhale. Combining the variation of exhale position and the uncertainty in diaphragm position from CT slices led to typical margins of 10 mm superior to the target, and 19 mm inferior to the target, compared to margins of 19 mm in both directions under our prior protocol of margins based on free-breathing CT studies. For a typical intrahepatic target, these smaller volumes resulted in a 3.6% reduction in V eff for the liver. Analysis of portal films shows proper

Study of ethane level in exhaled breath in patients with age-related macular degeneration: preliminary study.

Science.gov (United States)

Cagini, C; Giordanelli, A; Fiore, T; Giardinieri, R; Malici, B; De Medio, G E; Pelli, M A; De Bellis, F; Capodicasa, E

2011-01-01

A variety of factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), and oxidative stress plays an important role in the onset and progression of the disease. Breath ethane is now considered a specific and non-invasive test for determining and monitoring the trend of lipid peroxidation and free radical-induced damage in vivo. This test provides an index of the patients' overall oxidative stress level. We evaluated the breath ethane concentration in exhaled air in patients with advanced ARMD. In this study, we enrolled 13 patients with advanced ARMD and a control group, and a breath analysis was carried out by gas chromatography. The mean ethane level in the ARMD patients was 0.82 ± 0.93 nmol/l (range: 0.01-2.7 nmol/l) and the mean ethane value in the control group was 0.12 ± 0.02 nmol/l (range: 0.08-0.16 nmol/l). The difference between the values of the 2 groups was statistically significant (p ethane levels are higher in most patients with ARMD. The breath ethane test could thus be a useful method for evaluating the level of oxidative stress in patients with ARMD. To our knowledge, there are no data on this type of analysis applied to ARMD. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Occupational asthma follow-up - which markers are elevated in exhaled breath condensate and plasma?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelclová, D.; Fenclová, Z.; Vlčková, Š.; Klusáčková, P.; Lebedová, J.; Syslová, K.; Běláček, J.; Kuzma, Marek; Navrátil, Tomáš; Zakharov, S.; Kačer, P.

2014-01-01

Roč. 27, č. 2 (2014), s. 206-215 ISSN 1232-1087 Institutional support: RVO:61388971 ; RVO:61388955 Keywords : occupational asthma * exhalted breath condesate * leukotrienes Subject RIV: EC - Immunology; CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry (UFCH-W) Impact factor: 0.695, year: 2014

PBTK modeling demonstrates contribution of dermal and inhalation exposure components to end-exhaled breath concentrations of naphthalene.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, David; Andersen, Melvin E; Chao, Yi-Chun E; Egeghy, Peter P; Rappaport, Stephen M; Nylander-French, Leena A

2007-06-01

Dermal and inhalation exposure to jet propulsion fuel 8 (JP-8) have been measured in a few occupational exposure studies. However, a quantitative understanding of the relationship between external exposures and end-exhaled air concentrations has not been described for occupational and environmental exposure scenarios. Our goal was to construct a physiologically based toxicokinetic (PBTK) model that quantitatively describes the relative contribution of dermal and inhalation exposures to the end-exhaled air concentrations of naphthalene among U.S. Air Force personnel. The PBTK model comprised five compartments representing the stratum corneum, viable epidermis, blood, fat, and other tissues. The parameters were optimized using exclusively human exposure and biological monitoring data. The optimized values of parameters for naphthalene were a) permeability coefficient for the stratum corneum 6.8 x 10(-5) cm/hr, b) permeability coefficient for the viable epidermis 3.0 x 10(-3) cm/hr, c) fat:blood partition coefficient 25.6, and d) other tissue:blood partition coefficient 5.2. The skin permeability coefficient was comparable to the values estimated from in vitro studies. Based on simulations of workers' exposures to JP-8 during aircraft fuel-cell maintenance operations, the median relative contribution of dermal exposure to the end-exhaled breath concentration of naphthalene was 4% (10th percentile 1% and 90th percentile 11%). PBTK modeling allowed contributions of the end-exhaled air concentration of naphthalene to be partitioned between dermal and inhalation routes of exposure. Further study of inter- and intraindividual variations in exposure assessment is required to better characterize the toxicokinetic behavior of JP-8 components after occupational and/or environmental exposures.

Exhaled breath and oral cavity VOCs as potential biomarkers in oral cancer patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouza, M; Gonzalez-Soto, J; Pereiro, R; de Vicente, J C; Sanz-Medel, A

2017-03-01

Corporal mechanisms attributed to cancer, such as oxidative stress or the action of cytochrome P450 enzymes, seem to be responsible for the generation of a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that could be used as non-invasive diagnosis biomarkers. The present work presents an attempt to use VOCs from exhaled breath and oral cavity air as biomarkers for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients. A total of 52 breath samples were collected (in 3 L Tedlar bags) from 26 OSCC patients and 26 cancer-free controls. The samples were analyzed using solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry detection. Different statistical strategies (e.g., Icoshift, SIMCA, LDA, etc) were used to classify the analytical data. Results revealed that compounds such as undecane, dodecane, decanal, benzaldehyde, 3,7-dimethyl undecane, 4,5-dimethyl nonane, 1-octene, and hexadecane had relevance as possible biomarkers for OSCC. LDA classification with these compounds showed well-defined clusters for patients and controls (non-smokers and smokers). In addition to breath analysis, preliminary studies were carried out to evaluate the possibility of lesion-surrounded air (analyzed OSCC tumors are in the oral cavity) as a source of biomarkers. The oral cavity location of the squamous cell carcinoma tumors constitutes an opportunity to non-invasively collect the air surrounding the lesion. Small quantities (20 ml) of air collected in the oral cavity were analyzed using the above methodology. Results showed that aldehydes present in the oral cavity might constitute potential OSCC biomarkers.

Measurement and prediction of indoor air quality using a breathing thermal manikin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Melikov, Arsen Krikor; Kaczmarczyk, J.

2007-01-01

temperature is sensitive enough to perform reliable measurement of characteristics of air as inhaled by occupants. The temperature, humidity, and pollution concentration in the inhaled air can be measured accurately with a thermal manikin without breathing simulation if they are measured at the upper lip...... at a distance of measured inhaled air parameters. Proper simulation of breathing, especially of exhalation, is needed for studying the transport of exhaled air between occupants. A method......The analyses performed in this paper reveal that a breathing thermal manikin with realistic simulation of respiration including breathing cycle, pulmonary ventilation rate, frequency and breathing mode, gas concentration, humidity and temperature of exhaled air and human body shape and surface...

Measurement and prediction of indoor air quality using a breathing thermal manikin.

Science.gov (United States)

Melikov, A; Kaczmarczyk, J

2007-02-01

The analyses performed in this paper reveal that a breathing thermal manikin with realistic simulation of respiration including breathing cycle, pulmonary ventilation rate, frequency and breathing mode, gas concentration, humidity and temperature of exhaled air and human body shape and surface temperature is sensitive enough to perform reliable measurement of characteristics of air as inhaled by occupants. The temperature, humidity, and pollution concentration in the inhaled air can be measured accurately with a thermal manikin without breathing simulation if they are measured at the upper lip at a distance of measured inhaled air parameters. Proper simulation of breathing, especially of exhalation, is needed for studying the transport of exhaled air between occupants. A method for predicting air acceptability based on inhaled air parameters and known exposure-response relationships established in experiments with human subjects is suggested. Recommendations for optimal simulation of human breathing by means of a breathing thermal manikin when studying pollution concentration, temperature and humidity of the inhaled air as well as the transport of exhaled air (which may carry infectious agents) between occupants are outlined. In order to compare results obtained with breathing thermal manikins, their nose and mouth geometry should be standardized.

Reduced breath condensate pH in asymptomatic children with prior wheezing as a risk factor for asthma.

Science.gov (United States)

von Jagwitz, Marie; Pessler, Frank; Akmatov, Manas; Li, Jialiang; Range, Ursula; Vogelberg, Christian

2011-07-01

Early noninvasive detection of increased risk of asthma with exhaled breath condensate (EBC) pH measurement has not been applied to preschool children. We sought to evaluate the ability of EBC pH measurement to identify young asymptomatic children at risk of asthma using the combination of recurrent wheezing and atopic sensitization as a proxy for a high risk of asthma. pH values were measured in deaerated EBC from 191 children (median age, 4.4 years [interquartile range, 2.2 years]). Children were divided into one of 5 groups: asymptomatic children with recurrent wheezy bronchitis with (group 1, n = 34) or without (group 2, n = 64) allergic sensitization, acute wheezy bronchitis (group 3, n = 18), allergic rhinoconjunctivitis without recurrent wheezy bronchitis (group 4, n = 15), and healthy control subjects (group 5, n = 60). The Asthma Predictive Index score was calculated for groups 1 and 2. Statistical significance was evaluated with the appropriate nonparametric tests, and the discriminatory accuracy was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic analysis. Deaerated EBC pH values were significantly lower in groups 1 and 3 than in groups 2, 4, and 5 (median, 7.49 [interquartile range, 0.94] and 7.44 [interquartile range, 0.70] vs 7.93 [interquartile range, 0.23], 8.02 [interquartile range, 0.17], and 7.96 [interquartile range, 0.25], respectively; P < .001 and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve ≥0.80 in all comparisons). The area under the curve for the differentiation between groups 1 and 2 improved from 0.80 to 0.94 (sensitivity, 0.94; specificity, 0.84; positive predictive value, 0.76) when breath condensate pH values and Asthma Predictive Index scores were combined. A reduced deaerated EBC pH value might help identify young asymptomatic children at high risk of asthma. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thoron-in-breath monitoring at CRNL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peterman, B.F.

1985-04-01

This report contains a description of the thoron-in-breath monitor (TIBM) developed at CRNL. This monitor can be used to estimate the amount of thorium (Th-232 and/or Th-228) in humans. Thoron-in-breath monitoring is based on the fact that thoron (Rn-220) is a decay product of thorium, and hence deposited thorium produces thoron in vivo, a fraction of which will be exhaled. Experiences with the TIBM indicate that the monitoring is easy to perform and the results in terms of contaminated vs uncontaminated subjects can be easily interpreted. Work on relationships between thoron exhaled and deposited thorium and hence between thoron exhaled and dose, is continuing

Improvement of CT-based treatment planning models of abdominal targets using static exhale imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ten Haken, R.K.; Balter, J.M.; Lam, K.L.; McGinn, C.J.; Lawrence, T.S.

1996-01-01

PURPOSE: CT based models of the patient that do not account for the motion of ventilation may not accurately predict the shape and position of critical abdominal structures. Without knowledge of the patient's ventilatory status during the CT scan, a planning target volume margin for the entire range of ventilation is required both inferior and superior to abdominal target volumes to ensure coverage. Also, dose-volume histograms and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) estimates may be uncertain. Respiratory gating technology for imaging and treatment is not yet widely available. The purpose of the current study is to explore an intermediate step to improve the veracity of the patient model and reduce the treated volume by acquiring the CT data with the patients holding their breath at normal exhale. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The ventilatory time courses of diaphragm movement for 15 patients (with no special breathing instructions) were measured using digitized movies from the fluoroscope during simulation. On repeat simulations, the reproducibility of the diaphragm position at exhale was determined. A clinical protocol was developed for treatment based on exhale CT models. CT scans were acquired at normal exhale using a spiral scanner. Typical volumes were acquired using 5 mm slice thickness and a 1:1 pitch. The scan volume was divided into 2-3 segments, to allow the patient to breathe in between. Margins were placed about intrahepatic target volumes based on the ventilatory excursion inferior to the target, and on only the reproducibility of exhale position superior to the target. RESULTS: The average patient's diaphragm was located within 2 mm of the average exhale position for 50% of the typical ventilatory cycle. For inhale, this value was reduced to 10%, and for mid ventilation, 15%. The reproducibility of exhale position over multiple breathing cycles was 2 mm (2σ), as opposed to 4 mm for inhale. Combining the variation of exhale position and the

Exhaled Breath Markers for Nonimaging and Noninvasive Measures for Detection of Multiple Sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Broza, Yoav Y; Har-Shai, Lior; Jeries, Raneen; Cancilla, John C; Glass-Marmor, Lea; Lejbkowicz, Izabella; Torrecilla, José S; Yao, Xuelin; Feng, Xinliang; Narita, Akimitsu; Müllen, Klaus; Miller, Ariel; Haick, Hossam

2017-11-15

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common chronic neurological disease affecting young adults. MS diagnosis is based on clinical characteristics and confirmed by examination of the cerebrospinal fluids (CSF) or by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain or spinal cord or both. However, neither of the current diagnostic procedures are adequate as a routine tool to determine disease state. Thus, diagnostic biomarkers are needed. In the current study, a novel approach that could meet these expectations is presented. The approach is based on noninvasive analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in breath. Exhaled breath was collected from 204 participants, 146 MS and 58 healthy control individuals. Analysis was performed by gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) and nanomaterial-based sensor array. Predictive models were derived from the sensors, using artificial neural networks (ANNs). GC-MS analysis revealed significant differences in VOC abundance between MS patients and controls. Sensor data analysis on training sets was able to discriminate in binary comparisons between MS patients and controls with accuracies up to 90%. Blinded sets showed 95% positive predictive value (PPV) between MS-remission and control, 100% sensitivity with 100% negative predictive value (NPV) between MS not-treated (NT) and control, and 86% NPV between relapse and control. Possible links between VOC biomarkers and the MS pathogenesis were established. Preliminary results suggest the applicability of a new nanotechnology-based method for MS diagnostics.

NEW METHODOLOGY FOR IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL HUMAN BIOMARKERS BY COLLECTION AND CONCENTRATION OF EXHALED BREATH CONDENSATE

Science.gov (United States)

In many studies of human exposure, the measurement of pollutant chemicals in the environment (air, water, food, soil, etc.) is being supplemented by their additional measurement in biological media such as human breath, blood, and urine. This allows an unambiguous confirmation...

Experiments on the Microenvironment and Breathing of a Person in Isothermal and Stratified Surroundings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Peter V.; Jensen, Rasmus Lund; Litewnicki, Michal

2009-01-01

This study investigates the characteristics of human exhalation. Experiments are performed on a breathing thermal manikin in a test room. The manikin is heated, and an artificial lung is used to generate varying air flows with specific flow rates and temperatures for breathing. Smoke visualisation...... is used to show the formation, movement and disappearance of the exhalation jets from both nose and mouth. The exhalation of breathing without ventilation in the room, and with stratified surroundings (displacement ventilation) is analysed....

FEV manoeuvre induced changes in breath VOC compositions: an unconventional view on lung function tests

Science.gov (United States)

Sukul, Pritam; Schubert, Jochen K.; Oertel, Peter; Kamysek, Svend; Taunk, Khushman; Trefz, Phillip; Miekisch, Wolfram

2016-06-01

Breath volatile organic compound (VOC) analysis can open a non-invasive window onto pathological and metabolic processes in the body. Decades of clinical breath-gas analysis have revealed that changes in exhaled VOC concentrations are important rather than disease specific biomarkers. As physiological parameters, such as respiratory rate or cardiac output, have profound effects on exhaled VOCs, here we investigated VOC exhalation under respiratory manoeuvres. Breath VOCs were monitored by means of real-time mass-spectrometry during conventional FEV manoeuvres in 50 healthy humans. Simultaneously, we measured respiratory and hemodynamic parameters noninvasively. Tidal volume and minute ventilation increased by 292 and 171% during the manoeuvre. FEV manoeuvre induced substance specific changes in VOC concentrations. pET-CO2 and alveolar isoprene increased by 6 and 21% during maximum exhalation. Then they decreased by 18 and 37% at forced expiration mirroring cardiac output. Acetone concentrations rose by 4.5% despite increasing minute ventilation. Blood-borne furan and dimethyl-sulphide mimicked isoprene profile. Exogenous acetonitrile, sulphides, and most aliphatic and aromatic VOCs changed minimally. Reliable breath tests must avoid forced breathing. As isoprene exhalations mirrored FEV performances, endogenous VOCs might assure quality of lung function tests. Analysis of exhaled VOC concentrations can provide additional information on physiology of respiration and gas exchange.

Hydrogen peroxide in exhaled air of healthy children: reference values

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Q. Jobsis (Quirijn); R.H. Raatgeep (Rolien); S.L. Schellekens; W.C.J. Hop (Wim); P.W.M. Hermans (Peter); J.C. de Jongste (Johan)

1998-01-01

textabstractAn increased content of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a marker of inflammation, has been described in the condensate of exhaled air from adults and children with inflammatory lung disorders, including asthma. However, the normal range of [H2O2] in the exhaled

Spectroscopic monitoring of NO traces in plants and human breath: applications and perspectives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cristescu, S M; Marchenko, D; Mandon, J

2012-01-01

monitoring of NO concentrations in exhaled breath, and from plants under pathogen attack. A simple hand-held breath sampling device that allows single breath collection at various exhalation flows (15, 50, 100 and 300mL/s, respectively) is developed for off-line measurements and validated in combination...... with the WMS-based sensor. Additionally, the capability of plants to remove environmental NO is presented....

Ethane and n-pentane in exhaled breath are biomarkers of exposure not effect

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gorham, Katrine A; Andersen, Mads Peter Sulbæk; Meinardi, Simone

2009-01-01

The relationship of exhaled ethane and n-pentane to exhaled NO, carbonylated proteins, and indoor/outdoor atmospheric pollutants were examined in order to evaluate ethane and n-pentane as potential markers of airway inflammation and/or oxidative stress. Exhaled NO and carbonylated proteins were...... found to have no significant associations with either ethane (p = 0.96 and p = 0.81, respectively) or n-pentane (p = 0.44 and 0.28, respectively) when outliers were included. In the case where outliers were removed n-pentane was found to be inversely associated with carbonylated proteins. Exhaled...... hydrocarbons adjusted for indoor hydrocarbon concentrations were instead found to be positively associated with air pollutants (NO, NO(2) and CO), suggesting pollutant exposure is driving exhaled hydrocarbon concentrations. Given these findings, ethane and n-pentane do not appear to be markers of airway...

Ethane and n-pentane in exhaled breath are biomarkers of exposure not effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorham, Katrine A; Sulbaek Andersen, Mads P; Meinardi, Simone; Delfino, Ralph J; Staimer, Norbert; Tjoa, Thomas; Rowland, F Sherwood; Blake, Donald R

2009-02-01

The relationship of exhaled ethane and n-pentane to exhaled NO, carbonylated proteins, and indoor/outdoor atmospheric pollutants were examined in order to evaluate ethane and n-pentane as potential markers of airway inflammation and/or oxidative stress. Exhaled NO and carbonylated proteins were found to have no significant associations with either ethane (p = 0.96 and p = 0.81, respectively) or n-pentane (p = 0.44 and 0.28, respectively) when outliers were included. In the case where outliers were removed n-pentane was found to be inversely associated with carbonylated proteins. Exhaled hydrocarbons adjusted for indoor hydrocarbon concentrations were instead found to be positively associated with air pollutants (NO, NO(2) and CO), suggesting pollutant exposure is driving exhaled hydrocarbon concentrations. Given these findings, ethane and n-pentane do not appear to be markers of airway inflammation or oxidative stress.

Adhesion of volatile propofol to breathing circuit tubing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenz, Dominik; Maurer, Felix; Trautner, Katharina; Fink, Tobias; Hüppe, Tobias; Sessler, Daniel I; Baumbach, Jörg Ingo; Volk, Thomas; Kreuer, Sascha

2017-08-21

Propofol in exhaled breath can be measured and may provide a real-time estimate of plasma concentration. However, propofol is absorbed in plastic tubing, thus estimates may fail to reflect lung/blood concentration if expired gas is not extracted directly from the endotracheal tube. We evaluated exhaled propofol in five ventilated ICU patients who were sedated with propofol. Exhaled propofol was measured once per minute using ion mobility spectrometry. Exhaled air was sampled directly from the endotracheal tube and at the ventilator end of the expiratory side of the anesthetic circuit. The circuit was disconnected from the patient and propofol was washed out with a separate clean ventilator. Propofol molecules, which discharged from the expiratory portion of the breathing circuit, were measured for up to 60 h. We also determined whether propofol passes through the plastic of breathing circuits. A total of 984 data pairs (presented as median values, with 95% confidence interval), consisting of both concentrations were collected. The concentration of propofol sampled near the patient was always substantially higher, at 10.4 [10.25-10.55] versus 5.73 [5.66-5.88] ppb (p tubing was 4.58 [4.48-4.68] ppb, 3.46 [3.21-3.73] in the first hour, 4.05 [3.77-4.34] in the second hour, and 4.01 [3.36-4.40] in the third hour. Out-gassing propofol from the breathing circuit remained at 2.8 ppb after 60 h of washing out. Diffusion through the plastic was not observed. Volatile propofol binds or adsorbs to the plastic of a breathing circuit with saturation kinetics. The bond is reversible so propofol can be washed out from the plastic. Our data confirm earlier findings that accurate measurements of volatile propofol require exhaled air to be sampled as close as possible to the patient.

Exhaled methane concentration profiles during exercise on an ergometer

Science.gov (United States)

Szabó, A; Ruzsanyi, V; Unterkofler, K; Mohácsi, Á; Tuboly, E; Boros, M; Szabó, G; Hinterhuber, H; Amann, A

2016-01-01

Exhaled methane concentration measurements are extensively used in medical investigation of certain gastrointestinal conditions. However, the dynamics of endogenous methane release is largely unknown. Breath methane profiles during ergometer tests were measured by means of a photoacoustic spectroscopy based sensor. Five methane-producing volunteers (with exhaled methane level being at least 1 ppm higher than room air) were measured. The experimental protocol consisted of 5 min rest—15 min pedalling (at a workload of 75 W)—5 min rest. In addition, hemodynamic and respiratory parameters were determined and compared to the estimated alveolar methane concentration. The alveolar breath methane level decreased considerably, by a factor of 3–4 within 1.5 min, while the estimated ventilation-perfusion ratio increased by a factor of 2–3. Mean pre-exercise and exercise methane concentrations were 11.4 ppm (SD:7.3) and 2.8 ppm (SD:1.9), respectively. The changes can be described by the high sensitivity of exhaled methane to ventilationperfusion ratio and are in line with the Farhi equation. PMID:25749807

Exhaled volatile substances mirror clinical conditions in pediatric chronic kidney disease.

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Juliane Obermeier

Full Text Available Monitoring metabolic adaptation to chronic kidney disease (CKD early in the time course of the disease is challenging. As a non-invasive technique, analysis of exhaled breath profiles is especially attractive in children. Up to now, no reports on breath profiles in this patient cohort are available. 116 pediatric subjects suffering from mild-to-moderate CKD (n = 48 or having a functional renal transplant KTx (n = 8 and healthy controls (n = 60 matched for age and sex were investigated. Non-invasive quantitative analysis of exhaled breath profiles by means of a highly sensitive online mass spectrometric technique (PTR-ToF was used. CKD stage, the underlying renal disease (HUS; glomerular diseases; abnormalities of kidney and urinary tract or polycystic kidney disease and the presence of a functional renal transplant were considered as classifiers. Exhaled volatile organic compound (VOC patterns differed between CKD/ KTx patients and healthy children. Amounts of ammonia, ethanol, isoprene, pentanal and heptanal were higher in patients compared to healthy controls (556, 146, 70.5, 9.3, and 5.4 ppbV vs. 284, 82.4, 49.6, 5.30, and 2.78 ppbV. Methylamine concentrations were lower in the patient group (6.5 vs 10.1 ppbV. These concentration differences were most pronounced in HUS and kidney transplanted patients. When patients were grouped with respect to degree of renal failure these differences could still be detected. Ammonia accumulated already in CKD stage 1, whereas alterations of isoprene (linked to cholesterol metabolism, pentanal and heptanal (linked to oxidative stress concentrations were detectable in the breath of patients with CKD stage 2 to 4. Only weak associations between serum creatinine and exhaled VOCs were noted. Non-invasive breath testing may help to understand basic mechanisms and metabolic adaptation accompanying progression of CKD. Our results support the current notion that metabolic adaptation occurs early during the time

Optoacoustic 13C-breath test analyzer

Science.gov (United States)

Harde, Hermann; Helmrich, Günther; Wolff, Marcus

2010-02-01

The composition and concentration of exhaled volatile gases reflects the physical ability of a patient. Therefore, a breath analysis allows to recognize an infectious disease in an organ or even to identify a tumor. One of the most prominent breath tests is the 13C-urea-breath test, applied to ascertain the presence of the bacterium helicobacter pylori in the stomach wall as an indication of a gastric ulcer. In this contribution we present a new optical analyzer that employs a compact and simple set-up based on photoacoustic spectroscopy. It consists of two identical photoacoustic cells containing two breath samples, one taken before and one after capturing an isotope-marked substrate, where the most common isotope 12C is replaced to a large extent by 13C. The analyzer measures simultaneously the relative CO2 isotopologue concentrations in both samples by exciting the molecules on specially selected absorption lines with a semiconductor laser operating at a wavelength of 2.744 μm. For a reliable diagnosis changes of the 13CO2 concentration of 1% in the exhaled breath have to be detected at a concentration level of this isotope in the breath of about 500 ppm.

Impact of breathing on the thermal plume above a human body

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zukowska, Daria; Melikov, Arsen Krikor; Popiolek, Zbigniew

2011-01-01

The characteristics of the thermal plume above a human body should be well-defined in order to properly design the indoor environment and allow correct simulation of the indoor conditions by CFD or experimentally. The objective of the presented study was to investigate the influence of breathing....... A thermal manikin with female body shape equipped with an artificial lung was used to simulate the dry heat loss and breathing process of a sitting occupant. Three cases were examined: non-breathing, exhalation through nose, and exhalation through mouth. Measurements of the air temperature and speed...

Fractional exhaled nitric oxide and multiple breath nitrogen washout in preschool healthy and asthmatic children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vilmann, Lea; Buchvald, Frederik; Green, Kent

2017-01-01

Introduction Objectively assessing pulmonary disease is challenging in preschool children with asthma. We evaluated the feasibility of measuring fractional exhaled nitrogen oxide (FeNO) and multiple breath nitrogen washout (N2MBW) in children. We compared their capacities for discriminating between...... children with asthma and healthy controls. Methods We measured FeNO and N2MBW-derived indices of lung clearance (LCI2.5) and conductive and acinar ventilation heterogeneity (Scond and Sacin) in 65 preschool children; 35 with physician-diagnosed asthma and 30 healthy. FeNO was measured with a portable.......023), but similar FeNO, LCI2.5 and Sacinvalues. Conclusion The feasibility of measuring FeNO was highly age-dependent and not applicable in children under age 4. N2MBW was feasible in the majority of preschool children. Scond, but not FeNO, could discriminate between children with asthma and healthy controls....

Chemical Analysis of Whale Breath Volatiles: A Case Study for Non-Invasive Field Health Diagnostics of Marine Mammals

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Raquel Cumeras

2014-09-01

Full Text Available We explored the feasibility of collecting exhaled breath from a moribund gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus for potential non-invasive health monitoring of marine mammals. Biogenic volatile organic compound (VOC profiling is a relatively new field of research, in which the chemical composition of breath is used to non-invasively assess the health and physiological processes on-going within an animal or human. In this study, two telescopic sampling poles were designed and tested with the primary aim of collecting whale breath exhalations (WBEs. Once the WBEs were successfully collected, they were immediately transferred onto a stable matrix sorbent through a custom manifold system. A total of two large volume WBEs were successfully captured and pre-concentrated onto two Tenax®-TA traps (one exhalation per trap. The samples were then returned to the laboratory where they were analyzed using solid phase micro extraction (SPME and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS. A total of 70 chemicals were identified (58 positively identified in the whale breath samples. These chemicals were also matched against a database of VOCs found in humans, and 44% of chemicals found in the whale breath are also released by healthy humans. The exhaled gray whale breath showed a rich diversity of chemicals, indicating the analysis of whale breath exhalations is a promising new field of research.

Chemical analysis of whale breath volatiles: a case study for non-invasive field health diagnostics of marine mammals.

Science.gov (United States)

Cumeras, Raquel; Cheung, William H K; Gulland, Frances; Goley, Dawn; Davis, Cristina E

2014-09-12

We explored the feasibility of collecting exhaled breath from a moribund gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) for potential non-invasive health monitoring of marine mammals. Biogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) profiling is a relatively new field of research, in which the chemical composition of breath is used to non-invasively assess the health and physiological processes on-going within an animal or human. In this study, two telescopic sampling poles were designed and tested with the primary aim of collecting whale breath exhalations (WBEs). Once the WBEs were successfully collected, they were immediately transferred onto a stable matrix sorbent through a custom manifold system. A total of two large volume WBEs were successfully captured and pre-concentrated onto two Tenax®-TA traps (one exhalation per trap). The samples were then returned to the laboratory where they were analyzed using solid phase micro extraction (SPME) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A total of 70 chemicals were identified (58 positively identified) in the whale breath samples. These chemicals were also matched against a database of VOCs found in humans, and 44% of chemicals found in the whale breath are also released by healthy humans. The exhaled gray whale breath showed a rich diversity of chemicals, indicating the analysis of whale breath exhalations is a promising new field of research.

CFD Simulations of Contaminant Transport between two Breathing Persons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørn, Erik; Nielsen, Peter V.

Experiments have shown that exhalation from one person is able to penetrate the breathing zone of another person at a distance. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to investigate the dependency of the personal exposure on some physical parameters, namely: Pulmonary ventilation rate......, convective heat output, exhalation temperature, and crosssectional exhalation area. Full-scale experimental results are used to calibrate/validate the CFD model....

Breath Tests in Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine: From Research to Practice in Current Perspectives

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Attapon Cheepsattayakorn

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Today, exhaled nitric oxide has been studied the most, and most researches have now focusd on asthma. More than a thousand different volatile organic compounds have been observed in low concentrations in normal human breath. Alkanes and methylalkanes, the majority of breath volatile organic compounds, have been increasingly used by physicians as a novel method to diagnose many diseases without discomforts of invasive procedures. None of the individual exhaled volatile organic compound alone is specific for disease. Exhaled breath analysis techniques may be available to diagnose and monitor the diseases in home setting when their sensitivity and specificity are improved in the future.

The diagnostic value of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms and detection of pepsin and bile acids in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and exhaled breath condensate for identifying lung transplantation patients with GERD-induced aspiration.

Science.gov (United States)

Reder, Nicholas P; Davis, Christopher S; Kovacs, Elizabeth J; Fisichella, P Marco

2014-06-01

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is thought to lead to aspiration and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome after lung transplantation. Unfortunately, the identification of patients with GERD who aspirate still lacks clear diagnostic indicators. The authors hypothesized that symptoms of GERD and detection of pepsin and bile acids in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) and exhaled breath condensate (EBC) are effective for identifying lung transplantation patients with GERD-induced aspiration. From November 2009 to November 2010, 85 lung transplantation patients undergoing surveillance bronchoscopy were prospectively enrolled. For these patients, self-reported symptoms of GERD were correlated with levels of pepsin and bile acids in BAL and EBC and with GERD status assessed by 24-h pH monitoring. The sensitivity and specificity of pepsin and bile acids in BAL and EBC also were compared with the presence of GERD in 24-h pH monitoring. The typical symptoms of GERD (heartburn and regurgitation) had modest sensitivity and specificity for detecting GERD and aspiration. The atypical symptoms of GERD (aspiration and bronchitis) showed better identification of aspiration as measured by detection of pepsin and bile acids in BAL. The sensitivity and specificity of pepsin in BAL compared with GERD by 24-h pH monitoring were respectively 60 and 45 %, whereas the sensitivity and specificity of bile acids in BAL were 67 and 80 %. These data indicate that the measurement of pepsin and bile acids in BAL can provide additional data for identifying lung transplantation patients at risk for GERD-induced aspiration compared with symptoms or 24-h pH monitoring alone. These results support a diagnostic role for detecting markers of aspiration in BAL, but this must be validated in larger studies.

Study of the Human Breathing Flow Profile in a Room with three Different Ventilation Strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olmedo, Ines; Nielsen, Peter V.; de Adana, Manuel Ruiz

2010-01-01

the exhalation airflow was analyzed. In order to simulate the gaseous exhaled substances in human breathing, N2O was used as a tracer gas. The concentration of N2O and the velocity of the exhaled flow were measured in the center line of the exhalation flow. The velocity decay of the exhalation flow versus...

Exhaled nitric oxide in diagnosis and management of respiratory diseases

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Abba Abdullah

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The analysis of biomarkers in exhaled breath constituents has recently become of great interest in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of many respiratory conditions. Of particular interest is the measurement of fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO in breath. Its measurement is noninvasive, easy and reproducible. The technique has recently been standardized by both American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society. The availability of cheap, portable and reliable equipment has made the assay possible in clinics by general physicians and, in the near future, at home by patients. The concentration of exhaled nitric oxide is markedly elevated in bronchial asthma and is positively related to the degree of esinophilic inflammation. Its measurement can be used in the diagnosis of bronchial asthma and titration of dose of steroids as well as to identify steroid responsive patients in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In primary ciliary dyskinesia, nasal NO is diagnostically low and of considerable value in diagnosis. Among lung transplant recipients, FENO can be of great value in the early detection of infection, bronchioloitis obliterans syndrome and rejection. This review discusses the biology, factors affecting measurement, and clinical application of FENO in the diagnosis and management of respiratory diseases.

Blood and exhaled air can be used for biomonitoring of hydrofluorocarbon exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Ernstgård, Lena; Sjögren, Bengt; Gunnare, Sara; Johanson, Gunnar

2014-02-10

Various hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have replaced the ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons during the last decades. The objective of this study was to examine the usefulness of blood and breath for exposure biomonitoring of HFCs. We compared data on blood and exhaled air from a series of experiments where healthy volunteers were exposed to vapors of four commonly used HFCs; 1,1-difluoroethane, 1,1,1-trifluoroethane, 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane, and 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane. All four HFCs had similar toxicokinetic profiles in blood with a rapid initial increase and an apparent steady-state reached within a few minutes. For all HFCs, the inhalation uptake during exposure was low (less than 6%), most of which was exhaled post-exposure. No metabolism could be detected and only minor amounts were excreted unchanged in urine. The observed time courses in blood and breath were well described by physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. Simulations of 8-h exposures show that the HFC levels in both blood and breath drop rapidly during the first minutes post-exposure, whereafter the decline is considerably slower and mainly reflects washout from fat tissues. We conclude that blood and exhaled air can be used for biological exposure monitoring. Samples should not be taken immediately at the end of shift but rather 20-30 min later. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Variability in the exhalation rate of radon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rundo, J.; Markun, F.; Sha, J.Y.; Cameron, P.

1976-01-01

In a day-long study, twenty-eight 10-min samples of breath were collected from a former radium dial painter and were analyzed for radon. The radon exhalation rate showed good short-term reproducibility, but there was a dramatic short-lived increase in the first samples collected after lunch and a slow but steady increase during the course of the day

Exhaled breath analysis discriminates phenotypes of acute lung injury (ALI)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bos, L.D.J.; Hemmes, S.N.T.; Nijsen, T.M.E.; Sterk, P.J; Schultz, M.J.

2012-01-01

Introduction It has been postulated that the pathophysiology and clinical presentation of ALI based on pulmonary and non-pulmonary etiology represent different phenotypes1. Until now, little biological evidence on the molecular level has been presented to support this hypothesis. Exhaled air

Exhaled breath analysis for lung cancer detection using ion mobility spectrometry.

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Hiroshi Handa

Full Text Available Conventional methods for lung cancer detection including computed tomography (CT and bronchoscopy are expensive and invasive. Thus, there is still a need for an optimal lung cancer detection technique.The exhaled breath of 50 patients with lung cancer histologically proven by bronchoscopic biopsy samples (32 adenocarcinomas, 10 squamous cell carcinomas, 8 small cell carcinomas, were analyzed using ion mobility spectrometry (IMS and compared with 39 healthy volunteers. As a secondary assessment, we compared adenocarcinoma patients with and without epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR mutation.A decision tree algorithm could separate patients with lung cancer including adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and small cell carcinoma. One hundred-fifteen separated volatile organic compound (VOC peaks were analyzed. Peak-2 noted as n-Dodecane using the IMS database was able to separate values with a sensitivity of 70.0% and a specificity of 89.7%. Incorporating a decision tree algorithm starting with n-Dodecane, a sensitivity of 76% and specificity of 100% was achieved. Comparing VOC peaks between adenocarcinoma and healthy subjects, n-Dodecane was able to separate values with a sensitivity of 81.3% and a specificity of 89.7%. Fourteen patients positive for EGFR mutation displayed a significantly higher n-Dodecane than for the 14 patients negative for EGFR (p<0.01, with a sensitivity of 85.7% and a specificity of 78.6%.In this prospective study, VOC peak patterns using a decision tree algorithm were useful in the detection of lung cancer. Moreover, n-Dodecane analysis from adenocarcinoma patients might be useful to discriminate the EGFR mutation.

Detection of ethylene gas in exhaled breath of people living in landfill using CO{sub 2} laser photoacoustic spectroscopy with multicomponent analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oktafiani, Fitri, E-mail: fitri.oktafiani@mail.ugm.ac.id; Stiyabudi, Rizky; Amin, Mochamad Nurul; Mitrayana [Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sekip Utara BLS 21, Yogyakarta, 55281 Indonesia (Indonesia)

2016-06-17

The photoacoustic spectrometer (PAS) had been built and the performance had been determined. The research was based on the conversion of the absorbed middle infra red (IR) radiation by gas confined in a closed PAS cell into standing acoustic wave, which could be detected by a suitable electroacoustic transducer such as a microphone. The lowest detection limit for this setup was (57,1 ± 0,3) ppb and quality factor was (14,5 ± 0,6) for ethylene gas in 10P14 CO{sub 2} laser line. Then, this PAS was used to measure of ethylene gas concentration in breath sample of people living in near the Piyungan Bantul Yogyakarta landfill. The result from multicomponent analysis showed that PAS enable to measure the lowest concentration of volatile organic compound (VOC), such as ethylene, which occured on ambien air in Piyungan landfill. Variaty of distance area applied in this research. In the range of ±0,5 km from landfill, we obtained the concentration of ethylene gas concentration for human breath was (1,520 ± 0,002) ppm, while in the range of ±45 km, the ethylene gas concentration for human breath was (0,424 ± 0,002) ppm. Ethylene gas concentrations in exhaled gas decreased along with increasing distance variation of the landfill.

Glass bottle sampling solid phase microextraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry for breath analysis of drug metabolites.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Yan; Niu, Wenqi; Zou, Xue; Shen, Chengyin; Xia, Lei; Huang, Chaoqun; Wang, Hongzhi; Jiang, Haihe; Chu, Yannan

2017-05-05

Breath analysis is a non-invasive approach which may be applied to disease diagnosis and pharmacokinetic study. In the case of offline analysis, the exhaled gas needs to be collected and the sampling bag is often used as the storage vessel. However, the sampling bag usually releases some extra compounds, which may interfere with the result of the breath test. In this study, a novel breath sampling glass bottle was developed with a syringe needle sampling port for solid phase microextraction (SPME). Such a glass bottle scarcely liberates compounds and can be used to collect exhaled gas for ensuing analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The glass bottle sampling SPME-GC-MS analysis was carried out to investigate the breath metabolites of myrtol, a multicompound drug normally used in the treatment of bronchitis and sinusitis. Four compounds, α-pinene, 2,3-dehydro-1,8-cineole, d-limonene and 1,8-cineole were found in the exhaled breath of all eight volunteers who had taken the myrtol. While for other ten subjects who had not used the myrtol, these compounds were undetectable. In the SPME-GC-MS analysis of the headspace of myrtol, three compounds were detected including α-pinene, d-limonene and 1,8-cineole. Comparing the results of breath and headspace analysis, it indicates that 2,3-dehydro-1,8-cineole in the breath is the metabolite of 1,8-cineole. It is the first time that this metabolite was identified in human breath. The study demonstrates that the glass bottle sampling SPME-GC-MS method is applicable to exhaled gas analysis including breath metabolites investigation of drugs like myrtol. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exhaled nitric oxide measurements in the first 2 years of life: Methodological issues, clinical and epidemiological applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C. Gabriele (Carmelo); F.M. de Benedictis (Fernando Maria); J.C. de Jongste (Johan)

2009-01-01

textabstractFractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a useful tool to diagnose and monitor eosinophilic bronchial inflammation in asthmatic children and adults. In children younger than 2 years of age FeNO has been successfully measured both with the tidal breathing and with the single breath

Nitrite exhaled breath condensate study in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass cardiac surgery Estudo do nitrito do condensado do exalado pulmonar em pacientes submetidos à cirurgia cardíaca com CEC

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Viviane dos Santos Augusto

2011-03-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: There is a relative lack of studies on postoperative changes in nitrite (NO2 - concentrations, a marker of injury, following cardiac surgery. In this context, investigations on how exhaled NO concentrations vary in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery will certainly contribute to new clinical findings. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare the EBC NO levels in both the pre and postoperative (24 hours periods of cardiac surgery. METHODS: Twenty - eight individuals were divided into three groups: 1 control, 2 coronary artery bypass grafting, and 3 valve surgery. The nitrite (NO2 - levels were measured by chemiluminescence in blood samples and exhaled breath condensate (EBC. Data were analyzed by the Mann - Whitney and Wilcoxon tests. RESULTS: 1 Preoperatively, the EBC NO2 - levels from groups 2 and 3 patients were higher than control individuals; 2 The postoperative (24 hours NO2 - levels in the EBC from group 3 patients were lower compared with preoperative values; 3 The NO2 - levels in the plasma from group 2 patients were lower in the preoperative compared with the postoperative (24h values and; 4 Preoperatively, there was no difference between groups 2 and 3 in terms of plasma NO2 - concentrations. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that NO measurement in EBC is feasible in cardiac surgery patients.INTRODUÇÃO: Estudos mostrando alterações das concentrações de nitrito (NO2 - exalado, com biomarcador de lesão, são raros em pacientes submetidos à cirurgia cardíaca. Nesse contexto, o seu estudo no pré e pós - operatório de cirurgias cardíacas poderá contribuir para novos dados clínicos. OBJETIVO: O objetivo foi comparar os níveis de nitrito (NO2 - do condensado do exalado pulmonar (CEP no pré e pós - operatório de cirurgia cardíaca com circulação extracorpórea. MÉTODOS: Vinte e oito indivíduos foram alocados em três grupos: 1 controle, 2 revascularização do miocárdio e 3 corre

Online trapping and enrichment ultra performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for sensitive measurement of “arginine-asymmetric dimethylarginine cycle” biomarkers in human exhaled breath condensate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Gangi, Iole Maria; Pirillo, Paola; Carraro, Silvia; Gucciardi, Antonina; Naturale, Mauro; Baraldi, Eugenio; Giordano, Giuseppe

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Simultaneous quantification of “arginine-ADMA cycle” metabolites developed in EBC. ► EBC is a non-invasive matrix highly useful in patients with respiratory diseases. ► Method, fast, precise and accurate, is suitable in the pediatric clinical studies. ► Sensitivity is increased using on-line trapping and enrichment-UPLC–MS/MS method. ► EBC measurements in asthmatic adolescents confirm that ADMA is increased in asthma. - Abstract: Background: Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a biofluid collected non invasively that, enabling the measurement of several biomarkers, has proven useful in the study of airway inflammatory diseases, including asthma, COPD and cystic fibrosis. To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous report of any analytical method to detect ADMA in EBC. Objectives: Aim of this work was to develop an online sample trapping and enrichment system, coupled with an UPLC–MS/MS method, for simultaneous quantification of seven metabolites related to “Arginine-ADMA cycle”, using the isotopic dilution. Methods: Butylated EBC samples were trapped in an online cartridge, washed before and after each injection with cleanup solution to remove matrix components and switched inline into the high pressure analytical column. Multiple reaction monitoring in positive mode was used for analyte quantification by tandem mass spectrometry. Results: Validation studies were performed in EBC to examine accuracy, precision and robustness of the method. For each compound, the calibration curves showed a coefficient of correlation (r 2 ) greater than 0.992. Accuracy (%Bias) was −1 ), measured in EBC samples of asthmatic adolescents are significantly increased (p < 0.0001) than in normal controls (0.0040 ± 0.0021 vs. 0.0012 ± 0.0005 and 0.0020 ± 0.0015 vs. 0.0002 ± 0.0001, respectively), as well the ADMA/Tyr (0.34 ± 0.09 vs. 0.12 ± 0.02, p < 0.0001) and the SDMA/Tyr ratio (0.10 ± 0.04 vs. 0.015 ± 0.004, p < 0.0001). Conclusions

Rapid detection of nicotine from breath using desorption ionisation on porous silicon.

Science.gov (United States)

Guinan, T M; Abdelmaksoud, H; Voelcker, N H

2017-05-04

Desorption ionisation on porous silicon (DIOS) was used for the detection of nicotine from exhaled breath. This result represents proof-of-principle of the ability of DIOS to detect small molecular analytes in breath including biomarkers and illicit drugs.

Effects of acute hypoventilation and hyperventilation on exhaled carbon monoxide measurement in healthy volunteers

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Di Donato Michele

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background High levels of exhaled carbon monoxide (eCO are a marker of airway or lung inflammation. We investigated whether hypo- or hyperventilation can affect measured values. Methods Ten healthy volunteers were trained to achieve sustained end-tidal CO2 (etCO2 concentrations of 30 (hyperventilation, 40 (normoventilation, and 50 mmHg (hypoventilation. As soon as target etCO2 values were achieved for 120 sec, exhaled breath was analyzed for eCO with a photoacoustic spectrometer. At etCO2 values of 30 and 40 mmHg exhaled breath was sampled both after a deep inspiration and after a normal one. All measurements were performed in two different environmental conditions: A ambient CO concentration = 0.8 ppm and B ambient CO concentration = 1.7 ppm. Results During normoventilation, eCO mean (standard deviation was 11.5 (0.8 ppm; it decreased to 10.3 (0.8 ppm during hyperventilation (p 2 changes (hyperventilation: 10% Vs 25% decrease; hypoventilation 3% Vs 25% increase. Taking a deep inspiration before breath sampling was associated with lower eCO values (p Conclusions eCO measurements should not be performed during marked acute hyperventilation, like that induced in this study, but the influence of less pronounced hyperventilation or of hypoventilation is probably negligible in clinical practice

Exhaled ethane concentration in patients with cancer of the upper gastrointestinal tract - a proof of concept study.

Science.gov (United States)

Abela, Jo Etienne; Skeldon, Kenneth D; Stuart, Robert C; Padgett, Miles J

2009-06-01

There has been growing interest in the measurement of breath ethane as an optimal non-invasive marker of oxidative stress. High concentrations of various breath alkanes including ethane have been reported in a number of malignancies. Our aim was to investigate the use of novel laser spectroscopy for rapid reporting of exhaled ethane and to determine whether breath ethane concentration is related to a diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal malignancy. Two groups of patients were recruited. Group A (n = 20) had a histo-pathological diagnosis of either esophageal or gastric malignancy. Group B (n = 10) was made up of healthy controls. Breath samples were collected from these subjects and the ethane concentration in these samples was subsequently measured to an accuracy of 0.2 parts per billion, ppb. Group A patients had a corrected exhaled breath ethane concentration of 2.3 +/- 0.8 (mean +/- SEM) ppb. Group B patients registered a mean of 3.1 +/- 0.5 ppb. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.39). In conclusion, concentrations of ethane in collected breath samples were not significantly elevated in upper gastrointestinal malignancy. The laser spectroscopy system provided a reliable and rapid turnaround for breath sample analysis.

42 CFR 84.85 - Breathing bags; minimum requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... sufficient volume to prevent gas waste during exhalation and to provide an adequate reserve for inhalation. (b) Breathing bags shall be constructed of materials which are flexible and resistant to gasoline...

Clinical breath analysis: Discriminating between human endogenous compounds and exogenous (environmental) chemical confounders

Science.gov (United States)

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath originate from current or previous environmental exposures (exogenous compounds) and internal metabolic anabolic and catabolic) production (endogenous compounds). The origins of certain VOCs in breath presumed to be endogenous ...

Evolution of clinical and environmental health applications of exhaled breath research: Review of methods and instrumentation for gas-phase, condensate, and aerosols

Science.gov (United States)

Human breath, along with urine and blood, has long been one of the three major biological media for assessing human health and environmental exposure. In fact, the detection of odor on human breath, as described by Hippocrates in 400 BC, is considered the first analytical healt...

Dispersion of exhaled droplet nuclei in a two-bed hospital ward with three different ventilation systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Qian, H.; Li, Y.; Nielsen, Peter V.

2006-01-01

hospital ward with three ventilation systems, i.e. mixing, downward and displacement ventilation. Two life-size breathing thermal manikins were used to simulate a source patient and a receiving patient. The exhalation jet from a bed-lying manikin was visualized using smoke. N2O was used as tracer gas...... are well mixed in the ward. Bed distance does not affect the personal exposure of the receiving patient. For displacement ventilation, the exhaled jet can penetrate a long distance. A high concentration layer of exhaled droplet nuclei because of thermal stratification locking has also been observed...

Distribution of Exhaled Contaminants and Personal Exposure in a Room using Three Different Air Distribution Strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olmedo, Inés; Nielsen, Peter V.; Adana, M. Ruiz de

2012-01-01

The level of exposure to human exhaled contaminants in a room depends not only on the air distribution system but also on people’s different positions, the distance between them, people’s activity level and height, direction of exhalation, and the surrounding temperature and temperature gradient...... between the manikins are changed to study the influence on the level of exposure. The results show that the air exhaled by a manikin flows a longer distance with a higher concentration in case of displacement ventilation than in the other two cases, indicating a significant exposure to the contaminants....... Human exhalation is studied in detail for different distribution systems: displacement and mixing ventilation as well as a system without mechanical ventilation. Two thermal manikins breathing through the mouth are used to simulate the exposure to human exhaled contaminants. The position and distance...

Shining light on human breath analysis with quantum cascade laser spectroscopy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reyes Reyes, A.

2017-01-01

In the search for new non-invasive diagnostic methods, healthcare researchers have turned their attention to exhaled human breath. Breath consists of thousands of molecular compounds in very low concentrations, in the order of parts per million by volume (ppm_v), parts per billion by

Measuring breath acetone for monitoring fat loss: Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Joseph C

2015-12-01

Endogenous acetone production is a by-product of the fat metabolism process. Because of its small size, acetone appears in exhaled breath. Historically, endogenous acetone has been measured in exhaled breath to monitor ketosis in healthy and diabetic subjects. Recently, breath acetone concentration (BrAce) has been shown to correlate with the rate of fat loss in healthy individuals. In this review, the measurement of breath acetone in healthy subjects is evaluated for its utility in predicting fat loss and its sensitivity to changes in physiologic parameters. BrAce can range from 1 ppm in healthy non-dieting subjects to 1,250 ppm in diabetic ketoacidosis. A strong correlation exists between increased BrAce and the rate of fat loss. Multiple metabolic and respiratory factors affect the measurement of BrAce. BrAce is most affected by changes in the following factors (in descending order): dietary macronutrient composition, caloric restriction, exercise, pulmonary factors, and other assorted factors that increase fat metabolism or inhibit acetone metabolism. Pulmonary factors affecting acetone exchange in the lung should be controlled to optimize the breath sample for measurement. When biologic factors are controlled, BrAce measurement provides a non-invasive tool for monitoring the rate of fat loss in healthy subjects. © 2015 The Authors Obesity published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Obesity Society (TOS).

SU-E-J-236: Audiovisual Biofeedback Improves Breath-Hold Lung Tumor Position Reproducibility Measured with 4D MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, D; Pollock, S; Keall, P; Greer, P; Lapuz, C; Ludbrook, J; Kim, T

2015-01-01

Purpose: Audiovisual biofeedback breath-hold (AVBH) was employed to reproduce tumor position on inhale and exhale breath-holds for 4D tumor information. We hypothesize that lung tumor position will be more consistent using AVBH compared with conventional breath-hold (CBH). Methods: Lung tumor positions were determined for seven lung cancer patients (age: 25 – 74) during to two separate 3T MRI sessions. A breathhold training session was performed prior to the MRI sessions to allow patients to become comfortable with AVBH and their exhale and inhale target positions. CBH and AVBH 4D image datasets were obtained in the first MRI session (pre-treatment) and the second MRI session (midtreatment) within six weeks of the first session. Audio-instruction (MRI: Siemens Skyra) in CBH and verbal-instruction (radiographer) in AVBH were used. A radiation oncologist contoured the lung tumor using Eclipse (Varian Medical Systems); tumor position was quantified as the centroid of the contoured tumor after rigid registration based on vertebral anatomy across two MRI sessions. CBH and AVBH were compared in terms of the reproducibility assessed via (1) the difference between the two exhale positions for the two sessions and the two inhale positions for the sessions. (2) The difference in amplitude (exhale to inhale) between the two sessions. Results: Compared to CBH, AVBH improved the reproducibility of two exhale (or inhale) lung tumor positions relative to each other by 33%, from 6.4±5.3 mm to 4.3±3.0 mm (p=0.005). Compared to CBH, AVBH improved the reproducibility of exhale and inhale amplitude by 66%, from 5.6±5.9 mm to 1.9±1.4 mm (p=0.005). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that audiovisual biofeedback can be utilized for improving the reproducibility of breath-hold lung tumor position. These results are advantageous towards achieving more accurate emerging radiation treatment planning methods, in addition to imaging and treatment modalities utilizing breath

SU-E-J-236: Audiovisual Biofeedback Improves Breath-Hold Lung Tumor Position Reproducibility Measured with 4D MRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, D; Pollock, S; Keall, P [Radiation Physics Laboratory, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, NSW (Australia); Greer, P [School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW (Australia); Department of Radiation Oncology, Calvary Mater Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW (Australia); Lapuz, C; Ludbrook, J [Department of Radiation Oncology, Calvary Mater Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW (Australia); Kim, T [Radiation Physics Laboratory, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, NSW (Australia); Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA (United States)

2015-06-15

Purpose: Audiovisual biofeedback breath-hold (AVBH) was employed to reproduce tumor position on inhale and exhale breath-holds for 4D tumor information. We hypothesize that lung tumor position will be more consistent using AVBH compared with conventional breath-hold (CBH). Methods: Lung tumor positions were determined for seven lung cancer patients (age: 25 – 74) during to two separate 3T MRI sessions. A breathhold training session was performed prior to the MRI sessions to allow patients to become comfortable with AVBH and their exhale and inhale target positions. CBH and AVBH 4D image datasets were obtained in the first MRI session (pre-treatment) and the second MRI session (midtreatment) within six weeks of the first session. Audio-instruction (MRI: Siemens Skyra) in CBH and verbal-instruction (radiographer) in AVBH were used. A radiation oncologist contoured the lung tumor using Eclipse (Varian Medical Systems); tumor position was quantified as the centroid of the contoured tumor after rigid registration based on vertebral anatomy across two MRI sessions. CBH and AVBH were compared in terms of the reproducibility assessed via (1) the difference between the two exhale positions for the two sessions and the two inhale positions for the sessions. (2) The difference in amplitude (exhale to inhale) between the two sessions. Results: Compared to CBH, AVBH improved the reproducibility of two exhale (or inhale) lung tumor positions relative to each other by 33%, from 6.4±5.3 mm to 4.3±3.0 mm (p=0.005). Compared to CBH, AVBH improved the reproducibility of exhale and inhale amplitude by 66%, from 5.6±5.9 mm to 1.9±1.4 mm (p=0.005). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that audiovisual biofeedback can be utilized for improving the reproducibility of breath-hold lung tumor position. These results are advantageous towards achieving more accurate emerging radiation treatment planning methods, in addition to imaging and treatment modalities utilizing breath

Exhaled Breath Profiling Enables Discrimination of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fens, Niki; Zwinderman, Aeilko H.; van der Schee, Marc P.; de Nijs, Selma B.; Dijkers, Erica; Roldaan, Albert C.; Cheung, David; Bel, Elisabeth H.; Sterk, Peter J.

2009-01-01

Rationale Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma can exhibit overlapping clinical features. Exhaled air contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may qualify as noninvasive biomarkers. VOC profiles can be assessed using integrative analysis by electronic nose, resulting in

Biomarker Analysis of Human Breath for Early Prediction of Hepatotoxicity

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Risby, Terence

1998-01-01

This past three years of research conducted with support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research has been directed towards evaluating the use of exhaled breath to estimate the actual-exposure...

Study of the exhaled acetone in type 1 diabetes using quantum cascade laser spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes-Reyes, Adonis; Horsten, Roland C; Urbach, H Paul; Bhattacharya, Nandini

2015-01-06

The acetone concentration exhaled in the breath of three type 1 diabetes patients (two minors and one adult) and one healthy volunteer is studied using a quantum cascade laser-based spectroscopic system. Using the acetone signature between 1150 and 1250 cm(-1) and a multiline fitting method, the concentration variations on the order of parts per billion by volume were measured. Blood glucose and ketone concentrations in blood measurements were performed simultaneously to study their relation with acetone in exhaled breath. We focus on personalized studies to better understand the role of acetone in diabetes. For each volunteer, we performed a series of measurements over a period of time, including overnight fastings of 11 ± 1 h and during ketosis-hyperglycemia events for the minors. Our results highlight the importance of performing personalized studies because the response of the minors to the presence of ketosis was consistent but unique for each individual. Also, our results emphasize the need for performing more studies with T1D minors, because the acetone concentration in the breath of the minors differs, with respect to those reported in the literature, which are based on adults.

Limonene in exhaled breath is elevated in hepatic encephalopathy

Science.gov (United States)

O’Hara, M E; Fernández del Río, R; Holt, A; Pemberton, P; Shah, T; Whitehouse, T; Mayhew, C A

2016-01-01

Abstract Breath samples were taken from 31 patients with liver disease and 30 controls in a clinical setting and proton transfer reaction quadrupole mass spectrometry (PTR-Quad-MS) used to measure the concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). All patients had cirrhosis of various etiologies, with some also suffering from hepatocellular cancer (HCC) and/or hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Breath limonene was higher in patients with No-HCC than with HCC, median (lower/upper quartile) 14.2 (7.2/60.1) versus 3.6 (2.0/13.7) and 1.5 (1.1/2.3) nmol mol−1 in controls. This may reflect disease severity, as those with No-HCC had significantly higher UKELD (United Kingdom model for End stage Liver Disease) scores. Patients with HE were categorized as having HE symptoms presently, having a history but no current symptoms and having neither history nor current symptoms. Breath limonene in these groups was median (lower/upper quartile) 46.0 (14.0/103), 4.2 (2.6/6.4) and 7.2 (2.0/19.1) nmol mol−1, respectively. The higher concentration of limonene in those with current symptoms of HE than with a history but no current symptoms cannot be explained by disease severity as their UKELD scores were not significantly different. Longitudinal data from two patients admitted to hospital with HE show a large intra-subject variation in breath limonene, median (range) 18 (10–44) and 42 (32–58) nmol mol−1. PMID:27869108

Protection of occupants from exhaled infectious agents and floor material emissions in rooms with personalized and underfloor ventilation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cermak, Radim; Melikov, Arsen Krikor

2007-01-01

the concentration of exhaled air pollution increased in the room. The two types of personalized ventilation performed differently. Subsequent analyses of airborne infection transmission risk indicated that personalized ventilation could become a supplement to traditional methods of infection control....... of pollutants associated with exhaled air and floor material emissions was evaluated at various combinations of personalized and underfloor airflow rates. Compared to underfloor ventilation alone, personalized and underfloor ventilation provided excellent protection Of seated occupants from any pollution, while......The performance of two personalized. ventilation systems supplying air at the breathing zone was tested in conjunction with underfloor ventilation generating two different airflow patterns in a full-scale test room. Two breathing thermal manikins were used to simulate occupants. The distribution...

Fiber-Optic Bio-sniffer (Biochemical Gas Sensor) Using Reverse Reaction of Alcohol Dehydrogenase for Exhaled Acetaldehyde.

Science.gov (United States)

Iitani, Kenta; Chien, Po-Jen; Suzuki, Takuma; Toma, Koji; Arakawa, Takahiro; Iwasaki, Yasuhiko; Mitsubayashi, Kohji

2018-02-23

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) exhaled in breath have huge potential as indicators of diseases and metabolisms. Application of breath analysis for disease screening and metabolism assessment is expected since breath samples can be noninvasively collected and measured. In this research, a highly sensitive and selective biochemical gas sensor (bio-sniffer) for gaseous acetaldehyde (AcH) was developed. In the AcH bio-sniffer, a reverse reaction of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) was employed for reducing AcH to ethanol and simultaneously consuming a coenzyme, reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). The concentration of AcH can be quantified by fluorescence detection of NADH that was consumed by reverse reaction of ADH. The AcH bio-sniffer was composed of an ultraviolet light-emitting diode (UV-LED) as an excitation light source, a photomultiplier tube (PMT) as a fluorescence detector, and an optical fiber probe, and these three components were connected with a bifurcated optical fiber. A gas-sensing region of the fiber probe was developed with a flow-cell and an ADH-immobilized membrane. In the experiment, after optimization of the enzyme reaction conditions, the selectivity and dynamic range of the AcH bio-sniffer were investigated. The AcH bio-sniffer showed a short measurement time (within 2 min) and a broad dynamic range for determination of gaseous AcH, 0.02-10 ppm, which encompassed a typical AcH concentration in exhaled breath (1.2-6.0 ppm). Also, the AcH bio-sniffer exhibited a high selectivity to gaseous AcH based on the specificity of ADH. The sensor outputs were observed only from AcH-contained standard gaseous samples. Finally, the AcH bio-sniffer was applied to measure the concentration of AcH in exhaled breath from healthy subjects after ingestion of alcohol. As a result, a significant difference of AcH concentration between subjects with different aldehyde dehydrogenase type 2 (ALDH2) phenotypes was observed. The AcH bio-sniffer can be

Advances in chemical sensing technologies for VOCs in breath for security/threat assessment, illicit drug detection, and human trafficking activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Giannoukos, S; Agapiou, A; Taylor, S

2018-01-17

On-site chemical sensing of compounds associated with security and terrorist attacks is of worldwide interest. Other related bio-monitoring topics include identification of individuals posing a threat from illicit drugs, explosive manufacturing, as well as searching for victims of human trafficking and collapsed buildings. The current status of field analytical technologies is directed towards the detection and identification of vapours and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Some VOCs are associated with exhaled breath, where research is moving from individual breath testing (volatilome) to cell breath (microbiome) and most recently to crowd breath metabolites (exposome). In this paper, an overview of field-deployable chemical screening technologies (both stand-alone and those with portable characteristics) is given with application to early detection and monitoring of human exposome in security operations. On-site systems employed in exhaled breath analysis, i.e. mass spectrometry (MS), optical spectroscopy and chemical sensors are reviewed. Categories of VOCs of interest include (a) VOCs in human breath associated with exposure to threat compounds, and (b) VOCs characteristic of, and associated with, human body odour (e.g. breath, sweat). The latter are relevant to human trafficking scenarios. New technological approaches in miniaturised detection and screening systems are also presented (e.g. non-scanning digital light processing linear ion trap MS (DLP-LIT-MS), nanoparticles, mid-infrared photo-acoustic spectroscopy and hyphenated technologies). Finally, the outlook for rapid and precise, real-time field detection of threat traces in exhaled breath is revealed and discussed.

Take a Breath (A Cup of Health with CDC)

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

Breathing is a natural bodily function that most take for granted. But for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, inhaling and exhaling is a daily struggle. In this podcast, Dr. Anne Wheaton discusses health problems associated with COPD.

A calibration-free ammonia breath sensor using a quantum cascade laser with WMS 2f/1f

KAUST Repository

Owen, Kyle

2013-12-22

The amount of ammonia in exhaled breath has been linked to a variety of adverse medical conditions, including chronic kidney disease (CKD). The development of accurate, reliable breath sensors has the potential to improve medical care. Wavelength modulation spectroscopy with second harmonic normalized by the first harmonic (WMS 2f/1f) is a sensitive technique used in the development of calibration-free sensors. An ammonia gas sensor is designed and developed that uses a quantum cascade laser operating near 1,103.44 cm -1 and a multi-pass cell with an effective path length of 76.45 m. The sensor has a 7 ppbv detection limit and 5 % total uncertainty for breath measurements. The sensor was successfully used to detect ammonia in exhaled breath and compare healthy patients to patients diagnosed with CKD. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

NASOPHARYNGEAL CONCENTRATIONS IN THE HUMAN VOLUNTEER BREATHING ACETONE

Science.gov (United States)

In an effort to examine the absorption of a common chemical into the nasopharyngeal region in humans, a 57 year old male volunteer inhaled uniformly labeled 13C-acetone at 1.4 ppm for 30 min while performing different breathing maneuvers; nose inhale, nose exhale (NINE); mouth ...

Exhaled nitric oxide and urinary EPX levels in infants: a pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olin Anna-Carin

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Objective markers of early airway inflammation in infants are not established but are of great interest in a scientific setting. Exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO and urinary eosinophilic protein X (uEPX are a two such interesting markers. Objective To investigate the feasibility of measuring FeNO and uEPX in infants and their mothers and to determine if any relations between these two variables and environmental factors can be seen in a small sample size. This was conducted as a pilot study for the ongoing Swedish Environmental Longitudinal Mother and child Asthma and allergy study (SELMA. Methods Consecutive infants between two and six months old and their mothers at children's health care centres were invited, and 110 mother-infant pairs participated. FeNO and uEPX were analysed in both mothers and infants. FeNO was analyzed in the mothers online by the use of the handheld Niox Mino device and in the infants offline from exhaled air sampled during tidal breathing. A 33-question multiple-choice questionnaire that dealt with symptoms of allergic disease, heredity, and housing characteristics was used. Results FeNO levels were reduced in infants with a history of upper respiratory symptoms during the previous two weeks (p Conclusion The use of uEPX as a marker of early inflammation was not supported. FeNO levels in infants were associated to windowpane condensation. Measuring FeNO by the present method may be an interesting way of evaluating early airway inflammation. In a major population study, however, the method is difficult to use, for practical reasons.

Exhalation of I-131 after radioiodine therapy: time dependence and chemical form

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schomaecker, K.; Fischer, T.; Eschner, W.; Gaidouk, M.I.; Schicha, H.

2001-01-01

Aim: The change of both amount and chemical forms of radioiodine exhaled in the air of rooms with patients on the therapy ward should be investigated depending on radioactivity applied, time after application, and kind of thyroid disease. Methods: The air of ward-rooms of 62 patients with thyroid carcinoma, Graves' Disease, and autonomy which received different therapy doses, was investigated with an portable constant air flow sampler. Different chemical iodine species (organic, elemental, aerosol bound) were collected during 8 hr in various filters until 3 days after application of the radioiodine capsule, according to their chemical form. The radioactivity in the filters was measured with a well counter on defined time points after application. Results: The radioactivity exhaled was between 0,008 and 0,03% related to activity of radioiodine applied. The percentage of radioiodine exhaled related to the activity applied, differed significantly depending on disease and changed as follows: Grave's disease > autonomy > carcinoma. The exhalation of radioiodine became stronger with increasing applied activities and showed an exponential decrease with time. The most part of radioiodine was present in organic bound form. This organic portion decreased with time in favour of the other iodine species. Conclusion: The degree of accumulation of radioiodine orally applied within thyroid seems to be in direct proportion to the extend of its exhalation. Further measurements directly in the breathing air of RIT-patients are necessary, in order to clarify the relationship between degree of thyroid uptake and quantity as well as chemical form of radioiodine exhaled. (orig.) [de

Secondhand smoke exposure induces acutely airway acidification and oxidative stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Kostikas, Konstantinos; Minas, Markos; Nikolaou, Eftychia; Papaioannou, Andriana I; Liakos, Panagiotis; Gougoura, Sofia; Gourgoulianis, Konstantinos I; Dinas, Petros C; Metsios, Giorgos S; Jamurtas, Athanasios Z; Flouris, Andreas D; Koutedakis, Yiannis

2013-02-01

Previous studies have shown that secondhand smoke induces lung function impairment and increases proinflammatory cytokines. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the acute effects of secondhand smoke on airway acidification and airway oxidative stress in never-smokers. In a randomized controlled cross-over trial, 18 young healthy never-smokers were assessed at baseline and 0, 30, 60, 120, 180 and 240 min after one-hour secondhand smoke exposure at bar/restaurant levels. Exhaled NO and CO measurements, exhaled breath condensate collection (for pH, H(2)O(2) and NO(2)(-)/NO(3)(-) measurements) and spirometry were performed at all time-points. Secondhand smoke exposure induced increases in serum cotinine and exhaled CO that persisted until 240 min. Exhaled breath condensate pH decreased immediately after exposure (p secondhand smoke induced airway acidification and increased airway oxidative stress, accompanied by significant impairment of lung function. Despite the reversal in EBC pH and lung function, airway oxidative stress remained increased 4 h after the exposure. Clinical trial registration number (EudraCT): 2009-013545-28. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exhaled volatile organic compounds in individuals with a history of high altitude pulmonary edema and varying hypoxia-induced responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Figueroa, Jennifer A; Mansoor, Jim K; Allen, Roblee P; Davis, Cristina E; Walby, William F; Aksenov, Alexander A; Zhao, Weixiang; Lewis, William R; Schelegle, Edward S

2015-04-20

With ascent to altitude, certain individuals are susceptible to high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), which in turn can cause disability and even death. The ability to identify individuals at risk of HAPE prior to ascent is poor. The present study examined the profile of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and pulmonary artery systolic pressures (PASP) before and after exposure to normobaric hypoxia (12% O2) in healthy males with and without a history of HAPE (Hx HAPE, n = 5; Control, n = 11). In addition, hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR), and PASP response to normoxic exercise were also measured. Auto-regression/partial least square regression of whole gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) data and binary logistic regression (BLR) of individual GC peaks and physiologic parameters resulted in models that separate individual subjects into their groups with variable success. The result of BLR analysis highlights HVR, PASP response to hypoxia and the amount of benzyl alcohol and dimethylbenzaldehyde dimethyl in expired breath as markers of HAPE history. These findings indicate the utility of EBC VOC analysis to discriminate between individuals with and without a history of HAPE and identified potential novel biomarkers that correlated with physiological responses to hypoxia.

Online trapping and enrichment ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for sensitive measurement of 'arginine-asymmetric dimethylarginine cycle' biomarkers in human exhaled breath condensate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Di Gangi, Iole Maria, E-mail: giordano@pediatria.unipd.it [Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Department of Women' s and Children' s Health, University of Padova (Italy); Pirillo, Paola [Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Department of Women' s and Children' s Health, University of Padova (Italy); Carraro, Silvia [Unit of Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, Department of Women' s and Children' s Health, University of Padova (Italy); Gucciardi, Antonina; Naturale, Mauro [Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Department of Women' s and Children' s Health, University of Padova (Italy); Baraldi, Eugenio [Unit of Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, Department of Women' s and Children' s Health, University of Padova (Italy); Giordano, Giuseppe [Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Department of Women' s and Children' s Health, University of Padova (Italy)

2012-11-19

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Simultaneous quantification of 'arginine-ADMA cycle' metabolites developed in EBC. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer EBC is a non-invasive matrix highly useful in patients with respiratory diseases. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Method, fast, precise and accurate, is suitable in the pediatric clinical studies. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Sensitivity is increased using on-line trapping and enrichment-UPLC-MS/MS method. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer EBC measurements in asthmatic adolescents confirm that ADMA is increased in asthma. - Abstract: Background: Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) is a biofluid collected non invasively that, enabling the measurement of several biomarkers, has proven useful in the study of airway inflammatory diseases, including asthma, COPD and cystic fibrosis. To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous report of any analytical method to detect ADMA in EBC. Objectives: Aim of this work was to develop an online sample trapping and enrichment system, coupled with an UPLC-MS/MS method, for simultaneous quantification of seven metabolites related to 'Arginine-ADMA cycle', using the isotopic dilution. Methods: Butylated EBC samples were trapped in an online cartridge, washed before and after each injection with cleanup solution to remove matrix components and switched inline into the high pressure analytical column. Multiple reaction monitoring in positive mode was used for analyte quantification by tandem mass spectrometry. Results: Validation studies were performed in EBC to examine accuracy, precision and robustness of the method. For each compound, the calibration curves showed a coefficient of correlation (r{sup 2}) greater than 0.992. Accuracy (%Bias) was <3% except for NMMA and H-Arg (<20%), intra- and inter-assay precision (expressed as CV%) were within {+-}20% and recovery ranged from 97.1 to 102.8% for all analytes. Inter-day variability analysis on 20 EBC of adult subjects did

Pressure optimization of an EC-QCL based cavity ring-down spectroscopy instrument for exhaled NO detection

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Sheng; Han, Yanling; Li, Bincheng

2018-02-01

Nitric oxide (NO) in exhaled breath has gained increasing interest in recent years mainly driven by the clinical need to monitor inflammatory status in respiratory disorders, such as asthma and other pulmonary conditions. Mid-infrared cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) using an external cavity, widely tunable continuous-wave quantum cascade laser operating at 5.3 µm was employed for NO detection. The detection pressure was reduced in steps to improve the sensitivity, and the optimal pressure was determined to be 15 kPa based on the fitting residual analysis of measured absorption spectra. A detection limit (1σ, or one time of standard deviation) of 0.41 ppb was experimentally achieved for NO detection in human breath under the optimized condition in a total of 60 s acquisition time (2 s per data point). Diurnal measurement session was conducted for exhaled NO. The experimental results indicated that mid-infrared CRDS technique has great potential for various applications in health diagnosis.

Oral bacteria--the missing link to ambiguous findings of exhaled nitrogen oxides in cystic fibrosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zetterquist, Wilhelm; Marteus, Helena; Kalm-Stephens, Pia; Näs, Elisabeth; Nordvall, Lennart; Johannesson, Marie; Alving, Kjell

2009-02-01

Nitrite in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) has been shown to be elevated in cystic fibrosis (CF), while exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is paradoxically low. This has been argued to reflect increased metabolism of NO while its diffusion is obstructed by mucus. However, we wanted to study the possible influence of salivary nitrite and bacterial nitrate reduction on these parameters in CF patients by the intervention of an anti-bacterial mouthwash. EBC and saliva were collected from 15 CF patients (10-43 years) and 15 controls (9-44 years) before and 5 min after a 30s chlorhexidine mouthwash, in parallel with measurements of FENO. Nitrite and nitrate concentrations were measured fluorometrically. EBC nitrite, but not nitrate, was significantly higher in the CF patients (median 3.6 vs 1.3 microM in controls, p<0.05) and decreased after mouthwash in both groups (3.6-1.4 microM, p<0.01; 1.3-0.5 microM, p<0.01). Salivary nitrite correlated significantly to EBC nitrite (r=0.60, p<0.001) and decreased correspondingly after chlorhexidine, whereas salivary nitrate increased. FENO was lower in CF and the difference between patients and controls was accentuated after mouthwash (5.4 vs 8.4 ppb in controls, p<0.05). EBC nitrite mainly originates in the pharyngo-oral tract and its increase in CF is possibly explained by a regional change in bacterial activity. The limited lower airway contribution supports the view of a genuinely impaired formation and metabolism of NO in CF, rather than poor diffusion of the molecule.

Bronchoscopic lung-volume reduction with Exhale airway stents for emphysema (EASE trial) : randomised, sham-controlled, multicentre trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shah, P. L.; Slebos, D-J; Cardoso, P. F. G.; Cetti, E.; Voelker, K.; Levine, B.; Russell, M. E.; Goldin, J.; Brown, M.; Cooper, J. D.; Sybrecht, G. W.

2011-01-01

Background Airway bypass is a bronchoscopic lung-volume reduction procedure for emphysema whereby transbronchial passages into the lung are created to release trapped air, supported with paclitaxel-coated stents to ease the mechanics of breathing. The aim of the EASE (Exhale airway stents for

SU-F-207-13: Comparison of Four Dimensional Computed Tomography (4D CT) Versus Breath Hold Images to Determine Pulmonary Nodule Elasticity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Negahdar, M; Loo, B; Maxim, P [Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA (United States)

2015-06-15

Purpose: Elasticity may distinguish malignant from benign pulmonary nodules. To compare determining of malignant pulmonary nodule (MPN) elasticity from four dimensional computed tomography (4D CT) images versus inhale/exhale breath-hold CT images. Methods: We analyzed phase 00 and 50 of 4D CT and deep inhale and natural exhale of breath-hold CT images of 30 MPN treated with stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR). The radius of the smallest MPN was 0.3 cm while the biggest one was 2.1 cm. An intensity based deformable image registration (DIR) workflow was applied to the 4D CT and breath-hold images to determine the volumes of the MPNs and a 1 cm ring of surrounding lung tissue (ring) in each state. Next, an elasticity parameter was derived by calculating the ratio of the volume changes of MPN (exhale:inhale or phase50:phase00) to that of a 1 cm ring of lung tissue surrounding the MPN. The proposed formulation of elasticity enables us to compare volume changes of two different MPN in two different locations of lung. Results: The calculated volume ratio of MPNs from 4D CT (phase50:phase00) and breath-hold images (exhale:inhale) was 1.00±0.23 and 0.95±0.11, respectively. It shows the stiffness of MPN and comparably bigger volume changes of MPN in breath-hold images because of the deeper degree of inhalation. The calculated elasticity of MPNs from 4D CT and breath-hold images was 1.12±0.22 and 1.23±0.26, respectively. For five patients who have had two MPN in their lung, calculated elasticity of tumor A and tumor B follows same trend in both 4D CT and breath-hold images. Conclusion: We showed that 4D CT and breath-hold images are comparable in the ability to calculate the elasticity of MPN. This study has been supported by Department of Defense LCRP 2011 #W81XWH-12-1-0286.

Drug detection in breath: non-invasive assessment of illicit or pharmaceutical drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

Trefz, Phillip; Kamysek, Svend; Fuchs, Patricia; Sukul, Pritam; Schubert, Jochen K; Miekisch, Wolfram

2017-03-20

Breath analysis not only holds great potential for the development of new non-invasive diagnostic methods, but also for the identification and follow up of drug levels in breath. This is of interest for both, forensic and medical science. On the one hand, the detection of drugs of abuse in exhaled breath-similar to the well-known breath alcohol tests-would be highly desirable as an alternative to blood or urine analysis in situations such as police controls for drugged driving. The non-invasive detection of drugs and their metabolites is thus of great interest in forensic science, especially since marijuana is becoming legalized in certain parts of the US and the EU. The detection and monitoring of medical drugs in exhaled breath without the need of drawing blood samples on the other hand, is of high relevance in the clinical environment. This could facilitate a more precise medication and enable therapy control without any burden to the patient. Furthermore, it could be a step towards personalized medicine. This review gives an overview of the current state of drug detection in breath, including both volatile and non-volatile substances. The review is divided into two sections. The first section deals with qualitative detection of drugs (drugs of abuse), while the second is related to quantitative drug detection (medical drugs). Chances and limitations are discussed for both aspects. The detection of the intravenous anesthetic propofol is presented as a detailed example that demonstrates the potential, requirements, pitfalls and limitations of therapeutic drug monitoring by means of breath analysis.

13CO2/12CO2 ratio analysis in exhaled air by lead-salt tunable diode lasers for noninvasive diagnostics in gastroenterology

Science.gov (United States)

Stepanov, Eugene V.; Zyrianov, Pavel V.; Miliaev, Valerii A.; Selivanov, Yurii G.; Chizhevskii, Eugene G.; Os'kina, Svetlana; Ivashkin, Vladimir T.; Nikitina, Elena I.

1999-07-01

An analyzer of 13CO2/12CO2 ratio in exhaled air based on lead-salt tunable diode lasers is presented. High accuracy of the carbon isotope ratio detection in exhaled carbon dioxide was achieved with help of very simple optical schematics. It was based on the use of MBE laser diodes operating in pulse mode and on recording the resonance CO2 absorption at 4.2 micrometers . Special fast acquisition electronics and software were applied for spectral data collection and processing. Developed laser system was tested in a clinical train aimed to assessment eradication efficiency in therapy of gastritis associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. Data on the 13C-urea breath test used for P.pylori detection and obtained with tunable diode lasers in the course of the trail was compared with the results of Mass-Spectroscopy analysis and histology observations. The analyzer can be used also for 13CO2/12CO2 ratio detection in exhalation to perform gastroenterology breath test based on using other compounds labeled with stable isotopes.

Micropreconcentrator in LTCC Technology with Mass Spectrometry for the Detection of Acetone in Healthy and Type-1 Diabetes Mellitus Patient Breath

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Artur Rydosz

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Breath analysis has long been recognized as a potentially attractive method for the diagnosis of several diseases. The main advantage over other diagnostic methods such as blood or urine analysis is that breath analysis is fully non-invasive, comfortable for patients and breath samples can be easily obtained. One possible future application of breath analysis may be the diagnosing and monitoring of diabetes. It is, therefore, essential, to firstly determine a relationship between exhaled biomarker concentration and glucose in blood as well as to compare the results with the results obtained from non-diabetic subjects. Concentrations of molecules which are biomarkers of diseases’ states, or early indicators of disease should be well documented, i.e., the variations of abnormal concentrations of breath biomarkers with age, gender and ethnic issues need to be verified. Furthermore, based on performed measurements it is rather obvious that analysis of exhaled acetone as a single biomarker of diabetes is unrealistic. In this paper, the author presents results of his research conducted on samples of breath gas from eleven healthy volunteers (HV and fourteen type- 1 diabetic patients (T1DM which were collected in 1-l SKC breath bags. The exhaled acetone concentration was measured using mass spectrometry (HPR-20 QIC, Hiden Analytical, Warrington, UK coupled with a micropreconcentrator in LTCC (Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic. However, as according to recent studies the level of acetone varies to a significant extent for each blood glucose concentration of single individuals, a direct and absolute relationship between blood glucose and acetone has not been proved. Nevertheless, basing on the research results acetone in diabetic breath was found to be higher than 1.11 ppmv, while its average concentration in normal breath was lower than 0.83 ppmv.

Non-invasive biomarkers and pulmonary function in smokers

OpenAIRE

Borrill, Zo? L; Roy, Kay; Vessey, Rupert S; Woodcock, Ashley A; Singh, Dave

2008-01-01

Zoë L Borrill1, Kay Roy1, Rupert S Vessey2, Ashley A Woodcock1, Dave Singh11Medicines Evaluation Unit, University of Manchester, Wythenshawe Hospital, Southmoor Rd, Manchester, UK; 2Glaxo Smith Kline, Philadelphia, USAAbstract: Limited information exists regarding measurement, reproducibility and interrelationships of non-invasive biomarkers in smokers. We compared exhaled breath condensate (EBC) leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and 8-isoprostane, exhaled nitric oxide, induced sputum, spirometr...

Measurement of exhaled breath carbon monoxide in clinical practice: A study of levels in Central Pennsylvania community members.

Science.gov (United States)

Hrabovsky, Shari; Yingst, Jessica M; Veldheer, Susan; Hammett, Erin; Foulds, Jonathan

2017-06-01

Exhaled breath carbon monoxide (eBCO) reading is a useful tool for nurse practitioners to evaluate smoking status and other exposures to carbon monoxide (CO) to identify risk for cancer and chronic disease. This study aimed to measure one community's eBCO and identify potential environmental factors that may affect eBCO among nonsmokers. Data collected by convenience sampling at community health events included self-reported tobacco use and potential CO exposure. Means and frequency calculations describe the sample, two-sided t-tests determine differences in continuous variables, and chi-square tests determine differences in frequencies of CO levels between nontobacco users exposed to additional CO from their environment and nontobacco users who were not. As expected, smokers have significantly higher mean eBCO than nonsmokers (20.1 ppm vs. 4.4 ppm, p 6 ppm), although there were no environmental factors that explained a higher eBCO. Measuring eBCO provides an opportunity for the nurse practitioner to engage in a conversation about the impact of smoking and other environmental factors that contribute to eBCO and health. Keeping record of patients' smoking status and eBCO in their medical record is a valuable measure of the nurse practitioner's delivery of this care. ©2017 American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Design and Implementation of a Laser-Based Ammonia Breath Sensor for Medical Applications

KAUST Repository

Owen, Kyle

2012-06-01

Laser-based sensors can be used as non-invasive monitoring tools to measure parts per billion (ppb) levels of trace gases. Ammonia sensors are useful for applications in environmental pollutant monitoring, atmospheric and combustion kinetic studies, and medical diagnostics. This sensor was specifically designed to measure ammonia in exhaled breath to be used as a medical diagnostic and monitoring tool, however, it can also be extended for use in other applications. Although ammonia is a naturally occurring species in exhaled breath, abnormally elevated levels can be an indication of adverse medical conditions. Laser-based breath diagnostics have many benefits since they are cost effective, non-invasive, painless, real time monitors. They have the potential to improve the quality of medical care by replacing currently used blood tests and providing immediate feedback to physicians. This sensor utilizes a Quantum Cascade Laser and Wavelength Modulation Spectroscopy with second harmonic normalized by first harmonic detection in a 76 m multi-pass absorption cell to measure ppb levels of ammonia with improved sensitivity over previous sensors. Initial measurements to determine the ammonia absorption line parameters were performed using direct absorption spectroscopy. This is the first experimental study of the ammonia absorption line transitions near 1103.46 cm1 with absorption spectroscopy. The linestrengths were measured with uncertainties less than 10%. The collisional broadening coefficients for each of the ammonia lines with nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, and carbon dioxide were also measured, many of which had uncertainties less than 5%. The sensor was characterized to show a detectability limit of 10 ppb with an uncertainty of less than 5% at typical breath ammonia levels. Initial breath test results showed that some of the patients with chronic kidney disease had elevated ammonia levels while others had ammonia levels in the same range as expected for healthy

Online Measurement of Exhaled NO Concentration and Its Production Sites by Fast Non-equilibrium Dilution Ion Mobility Spectrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Liying; Jiang, Dandan; Wang, Zhenxin; Liu, Jiwei; Li, Haiyang

2016-03-01

Exhaled nitric oxide (NO) is one of the most promising breath markers for respiratory diseases. Its profile for exhalation and the respiratory NO production sites can provide useful information for medical disease diagnosis and therapeutic procedures. However, the high-level moisture in exhaled gas always leads to the poor selectivity and sensitivity for ion spectrometric techniques. Herein, a method based on fast non-equilibrium dilution ion mobility spectrometry (NED-IMS) was firstly proposed to directly monitor the exhaled NO profile on line. The moisture interference was eliminated by turbulently diluting the original moisture to 21% of the original with the drift gas and dilution gas. Weak enhancement was observed for humid NO response and its limit of detection at 100% relative humidity was down to 0.58 ppb. The NO concentrations at multiple exhalation flow rates were measured, while its respiratory production sites were determined by using two-compartment model (2CM) and Högman and Meriläinen algorithm (HMA). Last but not the least, the NO production sites were analyzed hourly to tentatively investigate the daily physiological process of NO. The results demonstrated the capacity of NED-IMS in the real-time analysis of exhaled NO and its production sites for clinical diagnosis and assessment.

A systematic review of breath analysis and detection of volatile organic compounds in COPD

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Anders; Davidsen, Jesper Rømhild; Titlestad, Ingrid

2016-01-01

research area is breath analysis, with several published attempts to find exhaled compounds as diagnostic markers. The field is broad and no review of published COPD breath analysis studies exists yet. We have conducted a systematic review examining the state of art and identified 12 suitable papers, which...... in breath sampling technologies, the selection of appropriate control groups, and a lack of sophisticated (and standardized) statistical data analysis methods. No cross-hospital/study comparisons have been published yet. We conclude that future efforts should (also) concentrate on making breath data...... analysis more comparable through standardization of sampling, data processing, and reporting....

Variations in colonic H-2 and CO2 production as a cause of inadequate diagnosis of carbohydrate maldigestion in breath tests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koetse, HA; Vonk, RJ; Pasterkamp, S; de Bruijn, S; Stellaard, F

Background: Lactose maldigestion is usually diagnosed by means of the H-2 breath test. When C-13-lactose is used as substrate, a (CO2)-C-13 breath rest can be performed simultaneously. In an earlier publication we described the relation between both the H2 and (CO2)-C-13 exhalation in breath and the

Take a Breath (A Cup of Health with CDC)

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2015-03-26

Breathing is a natural bodily function that most take for granted. But for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, inhaling and exhaling is a daily struggle. In this podcast, Dr. Anne Wheaton discusses health problems associated with COPD.  Created: 3/26/2015 by MMWR.   Date Released: 3/26/2015.

Bio-sniffer (gas-phase biosensor) with secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (S-ADH) for determination of isopropanol in exhaled air as a potential volatile biomarker.

Science.gov (United States)

Chien, Po-Jen; Suzuki, Takuma; Tsujii, Masato; Ye, Ming; Toma, Koji; Arakawa, Takahiro; Iwasaki, Yasuhiko; Mitsubayashi, Kohji

2017-05-15

Exhaled breath analysis has attracted lots of researchers attention in the past decades due to its advantages such as its non-invasive property and the possibility of continuous monitoring. In addition, several volatile organic compounds in breath have been identified as biomarkers for some diseases. Particularly, studies have pointed out that concentration of isopropanol (IPA) in exhaled air might relate with certain illnesses such as liver disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary (COPD), and lung cancer. In this study, a highly sensitive and selective biochemical gas sensor (bio-sniffer) for the breath IPA concentration determination was constructed and optimized. This bio-sniffer measures the concentration of IPA according to the fluorescence intensity of oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), which was produced by an enzymatic reaction of secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (S-ADH). The NADH detection system employed an UV-LED as the excitation light, and a highly sensitive photomultiplier tube (PMT) as a fluorescence intensity detector. A gas-sensing region was developed using an optical fiber probe equipped with a flow-cell and enzyme immobilized membrane, and connected to the NADH measurement system. The calibration range of the IPA bio-sniffer was confirmed from 1ppb to 9060ppb that was comparable to other IPA analysis methods. The results of the analysis of breath IPA concentration in healthy subjects using the bio-sniffer showed a mean concentration of 16.0ppb, which was similar to other studies. These results have demonstrated that this highly sensitive and selective bio-sniffer could be used to measure the IPA in exhaled air, and it is expected to apply for breath IPA research and investigation of biomarkers for clinical diagnosis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Real-time breath analysis with active capillary plasma ionization-ambient mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Bregy, Lukas; Sinues, Pablo Martinez-Lozano; Nudnova, Maryia M; Zenobi, Renato

2014-06-01

On-line analysis of exhaled human breath is a growing area in analytical science, for applications such as fast and non-invasive medical diagnosis and monitoring. In this work, we present a novel approach based on ambient ionization of compounds in breath and subsequent real-time mass spectrometric analysis. We introduce a plasma ionization source for this purpose, which has no need for additional gases, is very small, and is easily interfaced with virtually any commercial atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometer (API-MS) without major modifications. If an API-MS instrument exists in a laboratory, the cost to implement this technology is only around [Formula: see text]500, far less than the investment for a specialized mass spectrometric system designed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) analysis. In this proof-of-principle study we were able to measure mass spectra of exhaled human breath and found these to be comparable to spectra obtained with other electrospray-based methods. We detected over 100 VOCs, including relevant metabolites like fatty acids, with molecular weights extending up to 340 Da. In addition, we were able to monitor the time-dependent evolution of the peaks and show the enhancement of the metabolism after a meal. We conclude that this approach may complement current methods to analyze breath or other types of vapors, offering an affordable option to upgrade any pre-existing API-MS to a real-time breath analyzer.

Breath Analysis Using Laser Spectroscopic Techniques: Breath Biomarkers, Spectral Fingerprints, and Detection Limits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peeyush Sahay

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Breath analysis, a promising new field of medicine and medical instrumentation, potentially offers noninvasive, real-time, and point-of-care (POC disease diagnostics and metabolic status monitoring. Numerous breath biomarkers have been detected and quantified so far by using the GC-MS technique. Recent advances in laser spectroscopic techniques and laser sources have driven breath analysis to new heights, moving from laboratory research to commercial reality. Laser spectroscopic detection techniques not only have high-sensitivity and high-selectivity, as equivalently offered by the MS-based techniques, but also have the advantageous features of near real-time response, low instrument costs, and POC function. Of the approximately 35 established breath biomarkers, such as acetone, ammonia, carbon dioxide, ethane, methane, and nitric oxide, 14 species in exhaled human breath have been analyzed by high-sensitivity laser spectroscopic techniques, namely, tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS, cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS, integrated cavity output spectroscopy (ICOS, cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS, cavity leak-out spectroscopy (CALOS, photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS, quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS, and optical frequency comb cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OFC-CEAS. Spectral fingerprints of the measured biomarkers span from the UV to the mid-IR spectral regions and the detection limits achieved by the laser techniques range from parts per million to parts per billion levels. Sensors using the laser spectroscopic techniques for a few breath biomarkers, e.g., carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, etc. are commercially available. This review presents an update on the latest developments in laser-based breath analysis.

Breath acetone monitoring by portable Si:WO3 gas sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Righettoni, Marco; Tricoli, Antonio; Gass, Samuel; Schmid, Alex; Amann, Anton; Pratsinis, Sotiris E.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Portable sensors were developed and tested for monitoring acetone in the human breath. ► Acetone concentrations down to 20 ppb were measured with short response times ( 3 nanostructured films was developed. The chamber volume was miniaturized while reaction-limited and transport-limited gas flow rates were identified and sensing temperatures were optimized resulting in a low detection limit of acetone (∼20 ppb) with short response (10–15 s) and recovery times (35–70 s). Furthermore, the sensor signal (response) was robust against variations of the exhaled breath flow rate facilitating application of these sensors at realistic relative humidities (80–90%) as in the human breath. The acetone content in the breath of test persons was monitored continuously and compared to that of state-of-the-art proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). Such portable devices can accurately track breath acetone concentration to become an alternative to more elaborate breath analysis techniques.

Breath analysis based on micropreconcentrator for early cancer diagnosis

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sang-Seok

2018-02-01

We are developing micropreconcentrators based on micro/nanotechnology to detect trace levels of volatile organic compound (VOC) gases contained in human and canine exhaled breath. The possibility of using exhaled VOC gases as biomarkers for various cancer diagnoses has been previously discussed. For early cancer diagnosis, detection of trace levels of VOC gas is indispensable. Using micropreconcentrators based on MEMS technology or nanotechnology is very promising for detection of VOC gas. A micropreconcentrator based breath analysis technique also has advantages from the viewpoints of cost performance and availability for various cancers diagnosis. In this paper, we introduce design, fabrication and evaluation results of our MEMS and nanotechnology based micropreconcentrators. In the MEMS based device, we propose a flower leaf type Si microstructure, and its shape and configuration are optimized quantitatively by finite element method simulation. The nanotechnology based micropreconcentrator consists of carbon nanotube (CNT) structures. As a result, we achieve ppb level VOC gas detection with our micropreconcentrators and usual gas chromatography system that can detect on the order of ppm VOC in gas samples. In performance evaluation, we also confirm that the CNT based micropreconcentrator shows 115 times better concentration ratio than that of the Si based micropreconcentrator. Moreover, we discuss a commercialization idea for new cancer diagnosis using breath analysis. Future work and preliminary clinical testing in dogs is also discussed.

Breath pentane as a potential biomarker for survival in hepatic ischemia and reperfusion injury--a pilot study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Changsong Wang

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Exhaled pentane, which is produced as a consequence of reactive oxygen species-mediated lipid peroxidation, is a marker of oxidative stress. Propofol is widely used as a hypnotic agent in intensive care units and the operating room. Moreover, this agent has been reported to inhibit lipid peroxidation by directly scavenging reactive oxygen species. In this study, using a porcine liver ischemia-reperfusion injury model, we have evaluated the hypothesis that high concentrations of breath pentane are related to adverse outcome and that propofol could reduce breath pentane and improve liver injury and outcome in swine in this situation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Twenty male swine were assigned to two groups: propofol (n = 10 and chloral hydrate groups (n = 10. Hepatic ischemia was induced by occluding the portal inflow vessels. Ischemia lasted for 30 min, followed by reperfusion for 360 min. Exhaled and blood pentane concentrations in the chloral hydrate group markedly increased 1 min after reperfusion and then decreased to baseline. Breath and blood pentane concentrations in the propofol group increased 1 min after reperfusion but were significantly lower than in the chloral hydrate group. A negative correlation was found between breath pentane levels and survival in the chloral hydrate group. The median overall survival was 251 min after reperfusion (range 150-360 min in the chloral hydrate group. All of the swine were alive in the propofol group. CONCLUSIONS: Monitoring of exhaled pentane may be useful for evaluating the severity of hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury and aid in predicting the outcome; propofol may improve the outcome in this situation.

14C-urea breath test for the detection of Helicobacter pylori

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veldhuyzen van Zanten, S.J.; Tytgat, K.M.; Hollingsworth, J.; Jalali, S.; Rshid, F.A.; Bowen, B.M.; Goldie, J.; Goodacre, R.L.; Riddell, R.H.; Hunt, R.H.

1990-01-01

The high urease activity of Helicobacter pylori can be used to detect this bacterium by noninvasive breath tests. We have developed a 14 C-urea breath test which uses 5 microCi 14 C with 50 mg nonradioactive urea. Breath samples are collected at baseline and every 30 min for 2 h. Our study compared the outcome of the breath test to the results of histology and culture of endoscopically obtained gastric biopsies in 84 patients. The breath test discriminated well between the 50 positive patients and the 34 patients negative for Helicobacter pylori: the calculated sensitivity was 100%, specificity 88%, positive predictive value 93%, and negative predictive value 100%. Treatment with bismuth subsalicylate and/or ampicillin resulted in lower counts of exhaled 14 CO 2 which correlated with histological improvement in gastritis. The 14 C-urea breath test is a better gold standard for the detection of Helicobacter pylori than histology and/or culture

Rapid and easy method for monitoring oxidative stress markers in body fluids of patients with asbestos or silica-induced lung diseases

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Syslová, K.; Kačer, P.; Kuzma, Marek; Najmanová, V.; Fenclová, Z.; Vlčková, Š.; Lebedová, J.; Pelclová, D.

2009-01-01

Roč. 877, č. 24 (2009), s. 2477-2486 ISSN 1570-0232 R&D Projects: GA MZd NR9338 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50200510 Keywords : malondialdehyde * 4-Hydroxynonenal * exhaled breath condensate Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology Impact factor: 2.777, year: 2009

Study of the correlations between fractional exhaled nitric oxide in exhaled breath and atopic status, blood eosinophils, FCER2 mutation, and asthma control in Vietnamese children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nguyen-Thi-Bich H

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Hanh Nguyen-Thi-Bich,1 Huong Duong-Thi-Ly,2 Vu Thi Thom,2 Nhung Pham-Thi-Hong,2 Long Doan Dinh,2 Huong Le-Thi-Minh,1 Timothy John Craig,3 Sy Duong-Quy3,4 1Department of Immunology, Allergology, and Rheumatology, National Hospital of Pediatrics, Hanoi, Vietnam; 2School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam National University Hanoi, Vietnam; 3Department of Medicine, Penn State University, Hershey, PA, USA; 4Department of Respiratory Diseases, Lam Dong Medical College, Dalat, Vietnam Introduction: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO is a biomarker of airway inflammation in asthma. The measurement of FENO is utilized to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of children with asthma, especially for those treated with inhaled corticosteroids. Objectives: The aims of this study were to evaluate the correlations between FENO and atopic status, blood eosinophil levels, FCER2 mutation, and asthma control in Vietnamese children. Subjects and methods: This was a prospective and descriptive study approved by the local Ethical Board. All children with uncontrolled asthma, seen in the National Hospital of Pediatrics (Hanoi, Vietnam, were included. Exhaled breath FENO, blood eosinophils, skin prick test, total IgE, asthma control test (ACT, and FCER2 gene polymorphism were performed at inclusion. They were followed up at 3 months to evaluate clinical status, FENO levels, and ACT. Results: Forty-two children with uncontrolled asthma with a mean age of 10±3 years (6–16 years were included. The male/female ratio was 2.5/1. The mean FENO levels were 26±25 ppb. FENO was significantly higher in patients with a positive skin prick test for respiratory allergens (P<0.05. FENO was significantly correlated with blood eosinophil levels (r=0.5217; P=0.0004. Five of the 32 subjects (15.6% had a mutation of FCER2 gene (rs28364072 SNP. In this group, the levels of FENO were highest (37±10 ppb; P<0.05. The levels of FENO were significantly decreased after 3 months of

Noninvasive Strategy Based on Real-Time in Vivo Cataluminescence Monitoring for Clinical Breath Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Runkun; Huang, Wanting; Li, Gongke; Hu, Yufei

2017-03-21

The development of noninvasive methods for real-time in vivo analysis is of great significant, which provides powerful tools for medical research and clinical diagnosis. In the present work, we described a new strategy based on cataluminescence (CTL) for real-time in vivo clinical breath analysis. To illustrate such strategy, a homemade real-time CTL monitoring system characterized by coupling an online sampling device with a CTL sensor for sevoflurane (SVF) was designed, and a real-time in vivo method for the monitoring of SVF in exhaled breath was proposed. The accuracy of the method was evaluated by analyzing the real exhaled breath samples, and the results were compared with those obtained by GC/MS. The measured data obtained by the two methods were in good agreement. Subsequently, the method was applied to real-time monitoring of SVF in exhaled breath from rat models of the control group to investigate elimination pharmacokinetics. In order to further probe the potential of the method for clinical application, the elimination pharmacokinetics of SVF from rat models of control group, liver fibrosis group alcohol liver group, and nonalcoholic fatty liver group were monitored by the method. The raw data of pharmacokinetics of different groups were normalized and subsequently subjected to linear discriminant analysis (LDA). These data were transformed to canonical scores which were visualized as well-clustered with the classification accuracy of 100%, and the overall accuracy of leave-one-out cross-validation procedure is 88%, thereby indicating the utility of the potential of the method for liver disease diagnosis. Our strategy undoubtedly opens up a new door for real-time clinical analysis in a pain-free and noninvasive way and also guides a promising development direction for CTL.

Quantification of volatile organic compounds in exhaled human breath. Acetonitrile as biomarker for passive smoking. Model for isoprene in human breath; Quantifizierung organischer Spurenkomponenten in der menschlichen Atemluft. Acetonitril als Biomarker fuer Passivrauchen. Modell fuer Isopren im Atem, Zusammenhang Isoprenkonzentration, Cholesterinsynthese, lebensmittelchemische Untersuchungen an Knoblauch und Zwiebel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prazeller, P

2000-03-01

The topic of this thesis is the quantification of volatile organic compounds in human breath under various circumstances. The composition of exhaled breath reflects metabolic processes in the human body. Breath analysis is a non invasive technique which makes it most interesting especially for medical or toxicological applications. Measurements were done with Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass-Spectrometry (PTR-MS). This technique combines the advantage of small fragmentation of chemical ionization with highly time resolved mass spectrometry. A big part of this work is about investigations of exposition due to tobacco smoke. After smoking cigarettes the initial increase and time dependence of some compounds in the human breath are monitored . The calculated decrease resulting only from breathing out the compounds is presented and compared to the measured decline in the breath. This allows the distinction whether breathing is the dominant loss of a compound or a different metabolic process remover it more efficiently. Acetonitrile measured in human breath is presented as a biomarker for exposition to tobacco smoke. Especially its use for quantification of passive smoking, the exposition to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is shown. The reached accuracy and the fast way of measuring of acetonitrile in human breath using PTR-MS offer a good alternative to common used biomarkers. Numerous publications have described measurements of breath isoprene in humans, and there has been a hope that breath isoprene analyses could be a non-invasive diagnostic tool to assess serum cholesterol levels or cholesterol synthesis rate. However, significant analytical problems in breath isoprene analysis and variability in isoprene levels with age, exercise, diet, etc. have limited the usefulness of these measurements. Here, we have applied proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) to this problem, allowing on-line detection of breath isoprene. We show that breath isoprene

/sup 14/C-D-galactose breath test for evaluation of liver function in patients with chronic liver disease

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caspary, W F; Schaffer, J

1978-01-01

D-galactose metabolism and demethylation of aminopyrine by healthy controls and patients with chronic active hepatitis (CAH) and cirrhosis (Ci), were assessed by a breath analysis technique measuring /sup 14/CO2 exhalation after oral ingestion of /sup 14/C-D-galactose or /sup 14/C-aminopyrine. Patients with CAH and Ci exhibited decreased /sup 14/CO2-exhalation rates following /sup 14/-D-galactose or /sup 14/C-aminopyrine. D-galactose oxidation capacity of the liver can be assessed by a breath analysis technique in analogy to the demethylating function for aminopyrine. The ordinary oral D-galactose tolerance test seems, however, superior in comparison to the /sup 14/C-D-galactose tolerance test, in discriminating between healthy controls and patients with chronic liver disease.

Assessment of regional ventilation and deformation using 4D-CT imaging for healthy human lungs during tidal breathing.

Science.gov (United States)

Jahani, Nariman; Choi, Sanghun; Choi, Jiwoong; Iyer, Krishna; Hoffman, Eric A; Lin, Ching-Long

2015-11-15

This study aims to assess regional ventilation, nonlinearity, and hysteresis of human lungs during dynamic breathing via image registration of four-dimensional computed tomography (4D-CT) scans. Six healthy adult humans were studied by spiral multidetector-row CT during controlled tidal breathing as well as during total lung capacity and functional residual capacity breath holds. Static images were utilized to contrast static vs. dynamic (deep vs. tidal) breathing. A rolling-seal piston system was employed to maintain consistent tidal breathing during 4D-CT spiral image acquisition, providing required between-breath consistency for physiologically meaningful reconstructed respiratory motion. Registration-derived variables including local air volume and anisotropic deformation index (ADI, an indicator of preferential deformation in response to local force) were employed to assess regional ventilation and lung deformation. Lobar distributions of air volume change during tidal breathing were correlated with those of deep breathing (R(2) ≈ 0.84). Small discrepancies between tidal and deep breathing were shown to be likely due to different distributions of air volume change in the left and the right lungs. We also demonstrated an asymmetric characteristic of flow rate between inhalation and exhalation. With ADI, we were able to quantify nonlinearity and hysteresis of lung deformation that can only be captured in dynamic images. Nonlinearity quantified by ADI is greater during inhalation, and it is stronger in the lower lobes (P < 0.05). Lung hysteresis estimated by the difference of ADI between inhalation and exhalation is more significant in the right lungs than that in the left lungs. Copyright © 2015 the American Physiological Society.

SU-E-J-178: A Normalization Method Can Remove Discrepancy in Ventilation Function Due to Different Breathing Patterns

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qu, H; Yu, N; Stephans, K; Xia, P [Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH (United States)

2014-06-01

Purpose: To develop a normalization method to remove discrepancy in ventilation function due to different breathing patterns. Methods: Twenty five early stage non-small cell lung cancer patients were included in this study. For each patient, a ten phase 4D-CT and the voluntarily maximum inhale and exhale CTs were acquired clinically and retrospectively used for this study. For each patient, two ventilation maps were calculated from voxel-to-voxel CT density variations from two phases of the quiet breathing and two phases of the extreme breathing. For the quiet breathing, 0% (inhale) and 50% (exhale) phases from 4D-CT were used. An in-house tool was developed to calculate and display the ventilation maps. To enable normalization, the whole lung of each patient was evenly divided into three parts in the longitude direction at a coronal image with a maximum lung cross section. The ratio of cumulated ventilation from the top one-third region to the middle one-third region of the lung was calculated for each breathing pattern. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated on the ratios of the two breathing patterns for the group. Results: For each patient, the ventilation map from the quiet breathing was different from that of the extreme breathing. When the cumulative ventilation was normalized to the middle one-third of the lung region for each patient, the normalized ventilation functions from the two breathing patterns were consistent. For this group of patients, the correlation coefficient of the normalized ventilations for the two breathing patterns was 0.76 (p < 0.01), indicating a strong correlation in the ventilation function measured from the two breathing patterns. Conclusion: For each patient, the ventilation map is dependent of the breathing pattern. Using a regional normalization method, the discrepancy in ventilation function induced by the different breathing patterns thus different tidal volumes can be removed.

SU-E-J-178: A Normalization Method Can Remove Discrepancy in Ventilation Function Due to Different Breathing Patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qu, H; Yu, N; Stephans, K; Xia, P

2014-01-01

Purpose: To develop a normalization method to remove discrepancy in ventilation function due to different breathing patterns. Methods: Twenty five early stage non-small cell lung cancer patients were included in this study. For each patient, a ten phase 4D-CT and the voluntarily maximum inhale and exhale CTs were acquired clinically and retrospectively used for this study. For each patient, two ventilation maps were calculated from voxel-to-voxel CT density variations from two phases of the quiet breathing and two phases of the extreme breathing. For the quiet breathing, 0% (inhale) and 50% (exhale) phases from 4D-CT were used. An in-house tool was developed to calculate and display the ventilation maps. To enable normalization, the whole lung of each patient was evenly divided into three parts in the longitude direction at a coronal image with a maximum lung cross section. The ratio of cumulated ventilation from the top one-third region to the middle one-third region of the lung was calculated for each breathing pattern. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated on the ratios of the two breathing patterns for the group. Results: For each patient, the ventilation map from the quiet breathing was different from that of the extreme breathing. When the cumulative ventilation was normalized to the middle one-third of the lung region for each patient, the normalized ventilation functions from the two breathing patterns were consistent. For this group of patients, the correlation coefficient of the normalized ventilations for the two breathing patterns was 0.76 (p < 0.01), indicating a strong correlation in the ventilation function measured from the two breathing patterns. Conclusion: For each patient, the ventilation map is dependent of the breathing pattern. Using a regional normalization method, the discrepancy in ventilation function induced by the different breathing patterns thus different tidal volumes can be removed

Predictive value of 14CO2 breath tests for clinical use of 13CO2 breath tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glaubitt, D.M.H.

1975-01-01

The knowledge of the efficiency of 14 CO 2 breath tests makes possible the comparison of the efficiency of analogous tests using the stable isotope 13 C. 14 CO 2 exhalation studies render overall information. After parenteral administration of a 14 C labeled substrate, 14 CO 2 breath tests permit insight into the metabolism of the 14 C substrate and the associated intermediary metabolism. If the 14 C substrate is given orally or by intraduodenal instillation, 14 CO 2 breath tests supply information not only about gastrointenstinal absorption and digestion but also about the intermediary metabolism yielding 14 CO 2 , after the administered substrate or its degradation products have been absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. The fraction of 14 CO 2 arising from absorption, digestion and intermediary metabolism can be estimated only by additional methods. 14 CO 2 breath tests are unable to delineate single metabolic reactions involved in the formation of carbon dioxide. Under these considerations the clinical application of 14 CO 2 breath tests may provide diagnostically useful results, especially in internal medicine and surgery. The tests are suitable for intraindividual assessment of the course of a disease and of therapeutic effects. They may be important in the research of the metabolism of 14 C labeled substrates

Attempts at estimating mixed venous carbon dioxide tension by the single-breath method.

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Ohta, H; Takatani, O; Matsuoka, T

1989-01-01

The single-breath method was originally proposed by Kim et al. [1] for estimating the blood carbon dioxide tension and cardiac output. Its reliability has not been proven. The present study was undertaken, using dogs, to compare the mixed venous carbon dioxide tension (PVCO2) calculated by the single-breath method with the PVCO2 measured in mixed venous blood, and to evaluate the influence of variations in the exhalation duration and the volume of expired air usually discarded from computations as the deadspace. Among the exhalation durations of 15, 30 and 45 s tested, the 15 s duration was found to be too short to obtain an analyzable O2-CO2 curve, but at either 30 or 45 s, the calculated values of PVCO2 were comparable to the measured PVCO2. A significant agreement between calculated and measured PVCO2 was obtained when the expired gas with PCO2 less than 22 Torr was considered as deadspace gas.

Breath acetone concentration; biological variability and the influence of diet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Španěl, Patrik; Dryahina, Kseniya; Rejšková, Alžběta; Chippendale, Thomas W E; Smith, David

2011-01-01

Previous measurements of acetone concentrations in the exhaled breath of healthy individuals and the small amount of comparable data for individuals suffering from diabetes are briefly reviewed as a prelude to the presentation of new data on the sporadic and wide variations of breath acetone that occur in ostensibly healthy individuals. Data are also presented which show that following a ketogenic diet taken by eight healthy individuals their breath acetone concentrations increased up to five times over the subsequent 6 h. Similarly, the breath acetone increased six and nine times when a low carbohydrate diet was taken by two volunteers and remained high for the several days for which the diet was continued. These new data, together with the previous data, clearly indicate that diet and natural intra-individual biological and diurnal variability result in wide variations in breath acetone concentration. This places an uncertainty in the use of breath acetone alone to monitor blood glucose and glycaemic control, except and unless the individual acts as their own control and is cognizant of the need for dietary control. (note)

Exploratory breath analyses for assessing toxic dermal exposures of firefighters during suppression of structural burns.

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Pleil, Joachim D; Stiegel, Matthew A; Fent, Kenneth W

2014-09-01

Firefighters wear fireproof clothing and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) during rescue and fire suppression activities to protect against acute effects from heat and toxic chemicals. Fire services are also concerned about long-term health outcomes from chemical exposures over a working lifetime, in particular about low-level exposures that might serve as initiating events for adverse outcome pathways (AOP) leading to cancer. As part of a larger US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study of dermal exposure protection from safety gear used by the City of Chicago firefighters, we collected pre- and post-fire fighting breath samples and analyzed for single-ring and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as bioindicators of occupational exposure to gas-phase toxicants. Under the assumption that SCBA protects completely against inhalation exposures, any changes in the exhaled profile of combustion products were attributed to dermal exposures from gas and particle penetration through the protective clothing. Two separate rounds of firefighting activity were performed each with 15 firefighters per round. Exhaled breath samples were collected onto adsorbent tubes and analyzed with gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with a targeted approach using selective ion monitoring. We found that single ring aromatics and some PAHs were statistically elevated in post-firefighting samples of some individuals, suggesting that fire protective gear may allow for dermal exposures to airborne contaminants. However, in comparison to a previous occupational study of Air Force maintenance personnel where similar compounds were measured, these exposures are much lower suggesting that firefighters' gear is very effective. This study suggests that exhaled breath sampling and analysis for specific targeted compounds is a suitable method for assessing systemic dermal exposure in a simple and non-invasive manner.

The effects of aquatic hypercapnia on air-breathing fishes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jew, Corey James; Thomsen, Mikkel; Hicks, James W

The notion that bimodal breathers (animals that breathe both air and water) obtain O2 from the air and exhale CO2 into the water has been well established in the literature. However, while the majority of supporting experiments tested animals maintained in hypoxic water, the freshwater systems...... that bimodal breathers inhabit have been reported to be hypercapnic as well. Using a biomodal respirometer, data from three air-breathing fishes show that when in hypercapnic water, excretion of CO2 into the air signicantly increases and can account for 10% to 70% of metabolically produced CO2 depending...... on species. The large variation between species suggests the independent evolution of air-breathing organs and behaviors results in different blood PCO2 regulating strategies. However, all three species continued to rely on the water for CO2 excretion to some extent when submerged....

Activity calibration in breath test for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wasilewka-Radwanska, M.; Pysklak, S.; Gilewicz-Wolter, J.; Kuc, T.; Jung, A.; Niziol, J.; Kopanski, J.; Micherdzinski, J.; Cienciala, A.

1996-01-01

Some technical and measurement problems of the breath test for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori are briefly discussed. Calibrated results obtained for population of 108 cases indicate difference between HP+ (infected with Helicobacter pylori) and HP- (non infected with Helicobacter pylori) in exhaled 14 C activity not less than 3.9 kBq while the lower limit for HP+ cases was set at 6.8 kBq at the detection limit: 0.9 Bq/mmol of CO 2 . It was estimated that in exhalation way up to 29% of the taken activity was removed in HP+ cases during first 35 minutes. Radiation hazard for the patient system is negligibly small - dose equipment not exceeds 0.29% of the natural (environmental) yearly exposure. (author)

Breath acetone as a potential marker in clinical practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruzsányi, Veronika; Péter Kalapos, Miklós

2017-06-01

In recent decades, two facts have changed the opinion of researchers about the function of acetone in humans. Firstly, it has turned out that acetone cannot be regarded as simply a waste product of metabolism, because there are several pathways in which acetone is produced or broken down. Secondly, methods have emerged making possible its detection in exhaled breath, thereby offering an attractive alternative to investigation of blood and urine samples. From a clinical point of view the measurement of breath acetone levels is important, but there are limitations to its wide application. These limitations can be divided into two classes, technical and biological limits. The technical limits include the storage of samples, detection threshold, standardization of clinical settings, and the price of instruments. When considering the biological ranges of acetone, personal factors such as race, age, gender, weight, food consumption, medication, illicit drugs, and even profession/class have to be taken into account to use concentration information for disorders. In some diseases such as diabetes mellitus and lung cancer, as well as in nutrition-related behavior such as starvation and ketogenic diet, breath acetone has been extensively examined. At the same time, there is a lack of investigations in other cases in which ketosis is also evident, such as in alcoholism or an inborn error of metabolism. In summary, the detection of acetone in exhaled breath is a useful and promising tool for diagnosis and it can be used as a marker to follow the effectiveness of treatments in some disorders. However, further endeavors are needed for clarification of the exact distribution of acetone in different body compartments and evaluation of its complex role in humans, especially in those cases in which a ketotic state also occurs.

Exhaled volatile organic compounds for phenotyping chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a cross-sectional study

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Basanta Maria

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Non-invasive phenotyping of chronic respiratory diseases would be highly beneficial in the personalised medicine of the future. Volatile organic compounds can be measured in the exhaled breath and may be produced or altered by disease processes. We investigated whether distinct patterns of these compounds were present in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD and clinically relevant disease phenotypes. Methods Breath samples from 39 COPD subjects and 32 healthy controls were collected and analysed using gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Subjects with COPD also underwent sputum induction. Discriminatory compounds were identified by univariate logistic regression followed by multivariate analysis: 1. principal component analysis; 2. multivariate logistic regression; 3. receiver operating characteristic (ROC analysis. Results Comparing COPD versus healthy controls, principal component analysis clustered the 20 best-discriminating compounds into four components explaining 71% of the variance. Multivariate logistic regression constructed an optimised model using two components with an accuracy of 69%. The model had 85% sensitivity, 50% specificity and ROC area under the curve of 0.74. Analysis of COPD subgroups showed the method could classify COPD subjects with far greater accuracy. Models were constructed which classified subjects with ≥2% sputum eosinophilia with ROC area under the curve of 0.94 and those having frequent exacerbations 0.95. Potential biomarkers correlated to clinical variables were identified in each subgroup. Conclusion The exhaled breath volatile organic compound profile discriminated between COPD and healthy controls and identified clinically relevant COPD subgroups. If these findings are validated in prospective cohorts, they may have diagnostic and management value in this disease.

Nano-enabled paper humidity sensor for mobile based point-of-care lung function monitoring.

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Bhattacharjee, Mitradip; Nemade, Harshal B; Bandyopadhyay, Dipankar

2017-08-15

The frequency of breathing and peak flow rate of exhaled air are necessary parameters to detect chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPDs) such as asthma, bronchitis, or pneumonia. We developed a lung function monitoring point-of-care-testing device (LFM-POCT) consisting of mouthpiece, paper-based humidity sensor, micro-heater, and real-time monitoring unit. Fabrication of a mouthpiece of optimal length ensured that the exhaled air was focused on the humidity-sensor. The resistive relative humidity sensor was developed using a filter paper coated with nanoparticles, which could easily follow the frequency and peak flow rate of the human breathing. Adsorption followed by condensation of the water molecules of the humid air on the paper-sensor during the forced exhalation reduced the electrical resistance of the sensor, which was converted to an electrical signal for sensing. A micro-heater composed of a copper-coil embedded in a polymer matrix helped in maintaining an optimal temperature on the sensor surface. Thus, water condensed on the sensor surface only during forcible breathing and the sensor recovered rapidly after the exhalation was complete by rapid desorption of water molecules from the sensor surface. Two types of real-time monitoring units were integrated into the device based on light emitting diodes (LEDs) and smart phones. The LED based unit displayed the diseased, critical, and fit conditions of the lungs by flashing LEDs of different colors. In comparison, for the mobile based monitoring unit, an application was developed employing an open source software, which established a wireless connectivity with the LFM-POCT device to perform the tests. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Short-term changes in respiratory biomarkers after swimming in a chlorinated pool.

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Font-Ribera, Laia; Kogevinas, Manolis; Zock, Jan-Paul; Gómez, Federico P; Barreiro, Esther; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J; Fernandez, Pilar; Lourencetti, Carolina; Pérez-Olabarría, Maitane; Bustamante, Mariona; Marcos, Ricard; Grimalt, Joan O; Villanueva, Cristina M

2010-11-01

Swimming in chlorinated pools involves exposure to disinfection by-products (DBPs) and has been associated with impaired respiratory health. We evaluated short-term changes in several respiratory biomarkers to explore mechanisms of potential lung damage related to swimming pool exposure. We measured lung function and biomarkers of airway inflammation [fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), eight cytokines, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in exhaled breath condensate], oxidative stress (8-isoprostane in exhaled breath condensate), and lung permeability [surfactant protein D (SP-D) and the Clara cell secretory protein (CC16) in serum] in 48 healthy nonsmoking adults before and after they swam for 40 min in a chlorinated indoor swimming pool. We measured trihalomethanes in exhaled breath as a marker of individual exposure to DBPs. Energy expenditure during swimming, atopy, and CC16 genotype (rs3741240) were also determined. Median serum CC16 levels increased from 6.01 to 6.21 microg/L (average increase, 3.3%; paired Wilcoxon test p = 0.03), regardless of atopic status and CC16 genotype. This increase was explained both by energy expenditure and different markers of DBP exposure in multivariate models. FeNO was unchanged overall but tended to decrease among atopics. We found no significant changes in lung function, SP-D, 8-isoprostane, eight cytokines, or VEGF. We detected a slight increase in serum CC16, a marker of lung epithelium permeability, in healthy adults after they swam in an indoor chlorinated pool. Exercise and DBP exposure explained this association, without involving inflammatory mechanisms. Further research is needed to confirm the results, establish the clinical relevance of short-term serum CC16 changes, and evaluate the long-term health impacts.

Measurements of exhaled nitric oxide in healthy subjects age 4 to 17 years

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buchvald, Frederik; Baraldi, Eugenio; Carraro, Silvia

2005-01-01

to almost 100% from the age of 10 years. The repeatability of 3 approved measurements was 1.6 ppb (95% CI, 1.49-1.64 ppb). CONCLUSION: FE NO in healthy children is below 15 to 25 ppb depending on age and self-reported atopy. Measurement of FE NO by NIOX is simple and safe and has a good repeatability...... NO was measured in healthy subjects of 4 to 17 years according to American Thoracic Society guidelines (single breath online, exhalation flow 50 mL/s) with a chemiluminescence analyzer (NIOX Exhaled Nitric Oxide Monitoring System, Aerocrine, Sweden) in 3 European and 2 US centers. Each child performed 3...... NO in 405 children was 9.7 ppb, and the upper 95% confidence limit was 25.2 ppb. FE NO increased significantly with age, and higher FE NO was seen in children with self-reported rhinitis/conjunctivitis or hay fever. The success rate was age-dependent and improved from 40% in the children 4 years old...

Human breath analysis may support the existence of individual metabolic phenotypes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Martinez-Lozano Sinues

Full Text Available The metabolic phenotype varies widely due to external factors such as diet and gut microbiome composition, among others. Despite these temporal fluctuations, urine metabolite profiling studies have suggested that there are highly individual phenotypes that persist over extended periods of time. This hypothesis was tested by analyzing the exhaled breath of a group of subjects during nine days by mass spectrometry. Consistent with previous metabolomic studies based on urine, we conclude that individual signatures of breath composition exist. The confirmation of the existence of stable and specific breathprints may contribute to strengthen the inclusion of breath as a biofluid of choice in metabolomic studies. In addition, the fact that the method is rapid and totally non-invasive, yet individualized profiles can be tracked, makes it an appealing approach.

Perspective: Crowd-based breath analysis: assessing behavior, activity, exposures, and emotional response of people in groups

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A new concept for exhaled breath analysis has emerged wherein groups, or even crowds of people are simultaneously sampled in enclosed environments to detect overall trends in their activities and recent exposures. The basic idea is to correlate the temporal profile of known breat...

Quantitative detection of nitric oxide in exhaled human breath by extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Susu; Tian, Yong; Li, Ming; Zhao, Jiuyan; Zhu, Lanlan; Zhang, Wei; Gu, Haiwei; Wang, Haidong; Shi, Jianbo; Fang, Xiang; Li, Penghui; Chen, Huanwen

2015-03-01

Exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) is a useful biomarker of various physiological conditions, including asthma and other pulmonary diseases. Herein a fast and sensitive analytical method has been developed for the quantitative detection of eNO based on extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (EESI-MS). Exhaled NO molecules selectively reacted with 2-phenyl-4, 4, 5, 5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (PTIO) reagent, and eNO concentration was derived based on the EESI-MS response of 1-oxyl-2-phenyl-4, 4, 5, 5-tetramethylimidazoline (PTI) product. The method allowed quantification of eNO below ppb level (~0.02 ppbv) with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 11.6%. In addition, eNO levels of 20 volunteers were monitored by EESI-MS over the time period of 10 hrs. Long-term eNO response to smoking a cigarette was recorded, and the observed time-dependent profile was discussed. This work extends the application of EESI-MS to small molecules (mass spectrometers. Long-term quantitative profiling of eNO by EESI-MS opens new possibilities for the research of human metabolism and clinical diagnosis.

Ethylene and ammonia traces measurements from the patients' breath with renal failure via LPAS method

Science.gov (United States)

Popa, C.; Dutu, D. C. A.; Cernat, R.; Matei, C.; Bratu, A. M.; Banita, S.; Dumitras, D. C.

2011-11-01

The application of laser photoacoustic spectroscopy (LPAS) for fast and precise measurements of breath biomarkers has opened up new promises for monitoring and diagnostics in recent years, especially because breath test is a non-invasive method, safe, rapid and acceptable to patients. Our study involved assessment of breath ethylene and breath ammonia levels in patients with renal failure receiving haemodialysis (HD) treatment. Breath samples from healthy subjects and from patients with renal failure were collected using chemically inert aluminized bags and were subsequently analyzed using the LPAS technique. We have found out that the composition of exhaled breath in patients with renal failure contains not only ethylene, but also ammonia and gives valuable information for determining efficacy and endpoint of HD. Analysis of ethylene and ammonia traces from the human breath may provide insight into severity of oxidative stress and metabolic disturbances and may ensure optimal therapy and prevention of pathology at patients on continuous HD.

Breath acetone monitoring by portable Si:WO3 gas sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Righettoni, Marco; Tricoli, Antonio; Gass, Samuel; Schmid, Alex; Amann, Anton; Pratsinis, Sotiris E.

2013-01-01

Breath analysis has the potential for early stage detection and monitoring of illnesses to drastically reduce the corresponding medical diagnostic costs and improve the quality of life of patients suffering from chronic illnesses. In particular, the detection of acetone in the human breath is promising for non-invasive diagnosis and painless monitoring of diabetes (no finger pricking). Here, a portable acetone sensor consisting of flame-deposited and in situ annealed, Si-doped epsilon-WO3 nanostructured films was developed. The chamber volume was miniaturized while reaction-limited and transport-limited gas flow rates were identified and sensing temperatures were optimized resulting in a low detection limit of acetone (~20 ppb) with short response (10–15 s) and recovery times (35–70 s). Furthermore, the sensor signal (response) was robust against variations of the exhaled breath flow rate facilitating application of these sensors at realistic relative humidities (80–90%) as in the human breath. The acetone content in the breath of test persons was monitored continuously and compared to that of state-of-the-art proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). Such portable devices can accurately track breath acetone concentration to become an alternative to more elaborate breath analysis techniques. PMID:22790702

Smart sensor systems for human health breath monitoring applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunter, G W; Xu, J C; Biaggi-Labiosa, A M; Laskowski, D; Dutta, P K; Mondal, S P; Ward, B J; Makel, D B; Liu, C C; Chang, C W; Dweik, R A

2011-09-01

Breath analysis techniques offer a potential revolution in health care diagnostics, especially if these techniques can be brought into standard use in the clinic and at home. The advent of microsensors combined with smart sensor system technology enables a new generation of sensor systems with significantly enhanced capabilities and minimal size, weight and power consumption. This paper discusses the microsensor/smart sensor system approach and provides a summary of efforts to migrate this technology into human health breath monitoring applications. First, the basic capability of this approach to measure exhaled breath associated with exercise physiology is demonstrated. Building from this foundation, the development of a system for a portable asthma home health care system is described. A solid-state nitric oxide (NO) sensor for asthma monitoring has been identified, and efforts are underway to miniaturize this NO sensor technology and integrate it into a smart sensor system. It is concluded that base platform microsensor technology combined with smart sensor systems can address the needs of a range of breath monitoring applications and enable new capabilities for healthcare.

Markers of Lipid Oxidative Damage among Office Workers Exposed Intermittently to Air Pollutants including NanoTiO2 Particles.

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelclová, D.; Ždímal, Vladimír; Kačer, P.; Komarc, M.; Fenclová, Z.; Vlčková, Š.; Zíková, Naděžda; Schwarz, Jaroslav; Makeš, Otakar; Navrátil, Tomáš; Zakharov, S.; Bello, D.

2017-01-01

Roč. 32, 1-2 (2017), s. 193-200 ISSN 0048-7554 Institutional support: RVO:67985858 ; RVO:61388955 Keywords : exhaled breath condensate * occupational exposure * oxidative stress * spirometry * urine Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality; CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry (UFCH-W) OBOR OECD: Public and environmental health; Physical chemistry (UFCH-W)

Is breath acetone a biomarker of diabetes? A historical review on breath acetone measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhennan; Wang, Chuji

2013-09-01

Since the ancient discovery of the 'sweet odor' in human breath gas, pursuits of the breath analysis-based disease diagnostics have never stopped. Actually, the 'smell' of the breath, as one of three key disease diagnostic techniques, has been used in Eastern-Medicine for more than three thousand years. With advancement of measuring technologies in sensitivity and selectivity, more specific breath gas species have been identified and established as a biomarker of a particular disease. Acetone is one of the breath gases and its concentration in exhaled breath can now be determined with high accuracy using various techniques and methods. With the worldwide prevalence of diabetes that is typically diagnosed through blood testing, human desire to achieve non-blood based diabetic diagnostics and monitoring has never been quenched. Questions, such as is breath acetone a biomarker of diabetes and how is the breath acetone related to the blood glucose (BG) level (the golden criterion currently used in clinic for diabetes diagnostic, monitoring, and management), remain to be answered. A majority of current research efforts in breath acetone measurements and its technology developments focus on addressing the first question. The effort to tackle the second question has begun recently. The earliest breath acetone measurement in clearly defined diabetic patients was reported more than 60 years ago. For more than a half-century, as reviewed in this paper, there have been more than 41 independent studies of breath acetone using various techniques and methods, and more than 3211 human subjects, including 1581 healthy people, 242 Type 1 diabetic patients, 384 Type 2 diabetic patients, 174 unspecified diabetic patients, and 830 non-diabetic patients or healthy subjects who are under various physiological conditions, have been used in the studies. The results of the breath acetone measurements collected in this review support that many conditions might cause changes to breath

Portable optical spectroscopy for accurate analysis of ethane in exhaled breath

Science.gov (United States)

Patterson, Claire S.; McMillan, Lesley C.; Longbottom, Christopher; Gibson, Graham M.; Padgett, Miles J.; Skeldon, Kenneth D.

2007-05-01

We report on a maintenance-free, ward-portable, tunable diode laser spectroscopy system for the ultra-sensitive detection of ethane gas. Ethane is produced when cellular lipids are oxidized by free radicals. As a breath biomarker, ethane offers a unique measure of such oxidative stress. The ability to measure real-time breath ethane fluctuations will open up new areas in non-invasive healthcare. Instrumentation for such a purpose must be highly sensitive and specific to the target gas. Our technology has a sensitivity of 70 parts per trillion and a 1 s sampling rate. Based on a cryogenically cooled lead-salt laser, the instrument has a thermally managed closed-loop refrigeration system, eliminating the need for liquid coolants. Custom LabVIEW software allows automatic control by a laptop PC. We have field tested the instrument to ensure that target performance is sustained in a range of environments. We outline the novel applications underway with the instrument based on an in vivo clinical assessment of oxidative stress.

Exhaled nitric oxide in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beg Mohammed F S; Alzoghaibi, Mohammad A; Habib, Syed S; Abba, Abdullah A

2009-01-01

The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is elevated in nonsmoking subjects with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and compare it with the results in patients with asthma and a control population. Pulmonology Clinic at a University Hospital. Twenty five control subjects, 25 steroid naive asthmatics and 14 COPD patients were studied. All the patients were nonsmokers and stable at the time of the study. All subjects completed a questionnaire and underwent spirometry. Exhaled nitric oxide was measured online by chemiluminescence, using single-breath technique. All the study subjects were males. Subjects with stable COPD had significantly higher values of FENO than controls (56.54+ - 28.01 vs 22.00 + -6.69; P =0.0001) but lower than the subjects with asthma (56.54+ - 28.01 vs 84.78+ - 39.32 P 0.0285). The FENO values in COPD subjects were inversely related to the FEV 1 /FVC ratio. There was a significant overlap between the FENO values in COPD and the control subjects. There is a significant elevation in FENO in patients with stable COPD, but the elevation is less than in asthmatic subjects. Its value in clinical practice may be limited by the significant overlap with control subjects. (author)

An Ultrasonic Contactless Sensor for Breathing Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philippe Arlotto

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The monitoring of human breathing activity during a long period has multiple fundamental applications in medicine. In breathing sleep disorders such as apnea, the diagnosis is based on events during which the person stops breathing for several periods during sleep. In polysomnography, the standard for sleep disordered breathing analysis, chest movement and airflow are used to monitor the respiratory activity. However, this method has serious drawbacks. Indeed, as the subject should sleep overnight in a laboratory and because of sensors being in direct contact with him, artifacts modifying sleep quality are often observed. This work investigates an analysis of the viability of an ultrasonic device to quantify the breathing activity, without contact and without any perception by the subject. Based on a low power ultrasonic active source and transducer, the device measures the frequency shift produced by the velocity difference between the exhaled air flow and the ambient environment, i.e., the Doppler effect. After acquisition and digitization, a specific signal processing is applied to separate the effects of breath from those due to subject movements from the Doppler signal. The distance between the source and the sensor, about 50 cm, and the use of ultrasound frequency well above audible frequencies, 40 kHz, allow monitoring the breathing activity without any perception by the subject, and therefore without any modification of the sleep quality which is very important for sleep disorders diagnostic applications. This work is patented (patent pending 2013-7-31 number FR.13/57569.

Validation of a simplified carbon-14-urea breath test for routine use for detecting Helicobacter pylori noninvasively

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henze, E.; Malfertheiner, P.; Clausen, M.; Burkhardt, H.; Adam, W.E.

1990-01-01

A carbon-14 ( 14 C) urea breath test for detecting Helicobacter pylori with multiple breath sampling was developed. Carbon-14-urea (110 kBq) administered orally to 18 normal subjects and to 82 patients with Helicobacter infection. The exhaled 14 C-labeled CO 2 was trapped at 10-min intervals for 90 min. The total 14 C activity exhaled over 90 min was integrated and expressed in %activity of the total dose given. In normals, a mean of 0.59% +/- 0.24% was measured, resulting in an upper limit of normal of 1.07%. In 82 patients, a sensitivity of 90.2%, a specificity of 83.8%, and a positive predictive value of 90.2% was found. The single probes at intervals of 40-60 min correlated best with the integrated result, with r ranging from 0.986 to 0.990. The test's diagnostic accuracy did not change at all when reevaluated with the 40-, 50-, or 60-min sample data alone. Thus, the 14 C-urea breath test can be applied routinely as a noninvasive, low-cost and one-sample test with high diagnostic accuracy in detecting Helicobacter pylori colonization

Impact of Exhaled Breath Acetone in the Prognosis of Patients with Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF. One Year of Clinical Follow-up.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabiana G Marcondes-Braga

Full Text Available The identification of new biomarkers of heart failure (HF could help in its treatment. Previously, our group studied 89 patients with HF and showed that exhaled breath acetone (EBA is a new noninvasive biomarker of HF diagnosis. However, there is no data about the relevance of EBA as a biomarker of prognosis.To evaluate whether EBA could give prognostic information in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF.After breath collection and analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and by spectrophotometry, the 89 patients referred before were followed by one year. Study physicians, blind to the results of cardiac biomarker testing, ascertained vital status of each study participant at 12 months.The composite endpoint death and heart transplantation (HT were observed in 35 patients (39.3%: 29 patients (32.6% died and 6 (6.7% were submitted to HT within 12 months after study enrollment. High levels of EBA (≥3.7μg/L, 50th percentile were associated with a progressively worse prognosis in 12-month follow-up (log-rank = 11.06, p = 0.001. Concentrations of EBA above 3.7μg/L increased the risk of death or HT in 3.26 times (HR = 3.26, 95%CI = 1.56-6.80, p = 0.002 within 12 months. In a multivariable cox regression model, the independent predictors of all-cause mortality were systolic blood pressure, respiratory rate and EBA levels.High EBA levels could be associated to poor prognosis in HFrEF patients.

Impact of Exhaled Breath Acetone in the Prognosis of Patients with Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF). One Year of Clinical Follow-up

Science.gov (United States)

Saldiva, Paulo H. N.; Mangini, Sandrigo; Issa, Victor S.; Ayub-Ferreira, Silvia M.; Bocchi, Edimar A.

2016-01-01

Background The identification of new biomarkers of heart failure (HF) could help in its treatment. Previously, our group studied 89 patients with HF and showed that exhaled breath acetone (EBA) is a new noninvasive biomarker of HF diagnosis. However, there is no data about the relevance of EBA as a biomarker of prognosis. Objectives To evaluate whether EBA could give prognostic information in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Methods After breath collection and analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and by spectrophotometry, the 89 patients referred before were followed by one year. Study physicians, blind to the results of cardiac biomarker testing, ascertained vital status of each study participant at 12 months. Results The composite endpoint death and heart transplantation (HT) were observed in 35 patients (39.3%): 29 patients (32.6%) died and 6 (6.7%) were submitted to HT within 12 months after study enrollment. High levels of EBA (≥3.7μg/L, 50th percentile) were associated with a progressively worse prognosis in 12-month follow-up (log-rank = 11.06, p = 0.001). Concentrations of EBA above 3.7μg/L increased the risk of death or HT in 3.26 times (HR = 3.26, 95%CI = 1.56–6.80, p = 0.002) within 12 months. In a multivariable cox regression model, the independent predictors of all-cause mortality were systolic blood pressure, respiratory rate and EBA levels. Conclusions High EBA levels could be associated to poor prognosis in HFrEF patients. PMID:28030609

Hydrogen cyanide concentrations in the breath of adult cystic fibrosis patients with and without Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Gilchrist, F. J.; Bright-Thomas, R. J.; Jones, A.M.; Smith, D.; Španěl, Patrik; Webb, A. K.; Lenney, W.

2013-01-01

Roč. 7, č. 2 (2013), 026010 ISSN 1752-7155 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA203/09/0256 Institutional support: RVO:61388955 Keywords : TUBE MASS-SPECTROMETRY * EXHALED BREATH * SIFT-MS Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 3.590, year: 2013

Breath analysis using external cavity diode lasers: a review

Science.gov (United States)

Bayrakli, Ismail

2017-04-01

Most techniques that are used for diagnosis and therapy of diseases are invasive. Reliable noninvasive methods are always needed for the comfort of patients. Owing to its noninvasiveness, ease of use, and easy repeatability, exhaled breath analysis is a very good candidate for this purpose. Breath analysis can be performed using different techniques, such as gas chromatography mass spectrometry (MS), proton transfer reaction-MS, and selected ion flow tube-MS. However, these devices are bulky and require complicated procedures for sample collection and preconcentration. Therefore, these are not practical for routine applications in hospitals. Laser-based techniques with small size, robustness, low cost, low response time, accuracy, precision, high sensitivity, selectivity, low detection limit, real-time, and point-of-care detection have a great potential for routine use in hospitals. In this review paper, the recent advances in the fields of external cavity lasers and breath analysis for detection of diseases are presented.

Determination of breath acetone in 149 type 2 diabetic patients using a ringdown breath-acetone analyzer.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Meixiu; Chen, Zhuying; Gong, Zhiyong; Zhao, Xiaomeng; Jiang, Chenyu; Yuan, Yuan; Wang, Zhennang; Li, Yingxin; Wang, Chuji

2015-02-01

Over 90% of diabetic patients have Type 2 diabetes. Although an elevated mean breath acetone concentration has been found to exist in Type 1 diabetes (T1D), information on breath acetone in Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has yet to be obtained. In this study, we first used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to validate a ringdown breath-acetone analyzer based on the cavity-ringdown-spectroscopy technique, through comparing breath acetone concentrations in the range 0.5-2.5 ppm measured using both methods. The linear fitting of R = 0.99 suggests that the acetone concentrations obtained using both methods are consistent with a largest standard deviation of ±0.4 ppm in the lowest concentration of the range. Next, 620 breath samples from 149 T2D patients and 42 healthy subjects were collected and tested using the breath analyzer. Four breath samples were taken from each subject under each of four different conditions: fasting, 2 h post-breakfast, 2 h post-lunch, and 2 h post-dinner. Simultaneous blood glucose levels were also measured using a standard diabetic-management blood-glucose meter. For the 149 T2D subjects, their exhaled breath acetone concentrations ranged from 0.1 to 19.8 ppm; four different ranges of breath acetone concentration, 0.1-19.8, 0.1-7.1, 0.1-6.3, and 0.1-9.5 ppm, were obtained for the subjects under the four different conditions, respectively. For the 42 healthy subjects, their breath acetone concentration ranged from 0.1 to 2.6 ppm; four different ranges of breath acetone concentration, 0.3-2.6, 0.1-2.6, 0.1-1.7, and 0.3-1.6 ppm, were obtained for the four different conditions. The mean breath acetone concentration of the 149 T2D subjects was determined to be 1.5 ± 1.5 ppm, which was 1.5 times that of 1.0 ± 0.6 ppm for the 42 healthy subjects. No correlation was found between the breath acetone concentration and the blood glucose level of the T2D subjects and the healthy volunteers. This study using a relatively large number of

Compressed air demand-type firefighter's breathing system, volume 1. [design analysis and performance tests

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, J. L.

1975-01-01

The commercial availability of lightweight high pressure compressed air vessels has resulted in a lightweight firefighter's breathing apparatus. The improved apparatus, and details of its design and development are described. The apparatus includes a compact harness assembly, a backplate mounted pressure reducer assembly, a lightweight bubble-type facemask with a mask mounted demand breathing regulator. Incorporated in the breathing regulator is exhalation valve, a purge valve and a whistle-type low pressure warning that sounds only during inhalation. The pressure reducer assembly includes two pressure reducers, an automatic transfer valve and a signaling device for the low pressure warning. Twenty systems were fabricated, tested, refined through an alternating development and test sequence, and extensively examined in a field evaluation program. Photographs of the apparatus are included.

Gas Chromatography/mass Spectrometry Analysis of Exhaled Leukotrienes in Asthmatic Patients

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Čáp, P.; Chládek, J.; Pehal, F.; Malý, Marek; Petrů, V.; Barnes, P.J.; Montuschi, P.

2004-01-01

Roč. 59, č. 6 (2004), s. 465-470 ISSN 0040-6376 Source of funding: V - iné verejné zdroje Keywords : asthma * breath condensate * gas chromatography/mass spectrometry * leukotrienes Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research Impact factor: 5.040, year: 2004

System for routine testing of self-contained and airline breathing equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McDermott, H.J.; Hermens, G.A.

1980-07-01

A system for routine testing of self-contained and airline breathing equipment, developed by Shell Oil Co., for testing breathing equipment at one of its refineries, consists of an 80 psig air supply for airline respirators; a 500-2100 psig air supply for self-contained units; a regulator test system which uses a mannequin head that simulates human inhalation and which tests the ability of the regulator to keep the mask interior at the correct positive pressure; and an exhalation valve test system which identifies a leaky or sticking valve. The testing system has been in use for about 30 mo and has led to increased acceptance of respiratory protective equipment by workers.

Quartz tuning fork based sensor for detection of volatile organic compounds: towards breath analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Sampson, Abraham; Panchal, Suresh; Phadke, Apoorva; Kashyap, A.; Suman, Jilma; Unnikrishnan, G.; Datar, Suwarna

2018-04-01

Several volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are present in the exhaled human breath whose concentration can vary depending on the physiological changes occurring within a human being. These changes in the concentration or the occurrence of a particular VOC can be used as signature of a particular disease in a person. In the present work, a sensor has been developed to detect VOCs such as 1,4-dimethoxy-2,3-butanediol (BD), and cyclohexanone (CH), acetone, methanol and ethanol. Except for BD and CH, the rest of the VOCs are present in a healthy person in ppm levels. CH and BD have been reported to be present in the exhaled human breath of breast cancer patients in ppm levels and can be used to distinguish between a healthy person and a person with breast cancer. The selectivity of the sensor towards these two compounds in the presence of other VOCs commonly present in human breath like acetone, ethanol and methanol has been studied. The sensor has been developed using modified Quartz Tuning Forks (QTFs) with the intent of developing an array of such sensors identifying different VOCs present in a healthy human’s breath. Two differently modified QTFs have been used to detect 1 ppm of 1,4-dimethoxy-2,3-butanediol and 20 ppm of cyclohexanone. Linear Discriminants Analysis (LDA) has been used to classify seven different VOCs. For this purpose, features extracted from sensor responses -shift in resonant frequency, response time and recovery time of the sensors- have been used as features in the model. Differently modified array of QTFs along with the use of LDA can be a useful pathway towards development of a QTF based sensor array for human breath analysis.

Medical Diagnostic Breath Analysis by Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Guss, Joseph S.; Metsälä, Markus; Halonen, Lauri

2009-06-01

Certain medical conditions give rise to the presence of chemicals in the bloodstream. These chemicals - known as biomarkers - may also be present in low concentrations in human breath. Cavity ring down spectroscopy possesses the requisite selectivity and sensitivity to detect such biomarkers in the congested spectrum of a breath sample. The ulcer-causing bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, is a prolific producer of the enzyme urease, which catalyses the breakdown of urea ((NH_2)_2CO) in the stomach as follows: (NH_2)_2CO + H_2O ⟶ CO_2 + 2NH_3 Currently, breath tests seeking altered carbon-isotope ratios in exhaled CO_2 after the ingestion of ^{13}C- or ^{14}C-labeled urea are used to diagnose H. pylori infection. We present recent results from an ongoing collaboration with Tampere Area University Hospital. The study involves 100 patients (both infected and uninfected) and concerns the possible correlation between the bacterial infection and breath ammonia. D. Y. Graham, P. D. Klein, D. J. Evans, Jr, D. G. Evans, L. C. Alpert, A. R. Opekun, T. W. Boutton, Lancet 1(8543), 1174-7 March 1987.

Selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry of exhaled breath condensate headspace

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Čáp, P.; Dryahina, Kseniya; Pehal, F.; Španěl, Patrik

2008-01-01

Roč. 22, č. 18 (2008), s. 2844-2850 ISSN 0951-4198 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503 Keywords : EBC * SIFT-MS Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 2.772, year: 2008

Observation of Faraday Waves in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engels, P.; Atherton, C.; Hoefer, M. A.

2007-01-01

Faraday waves in a cigar-shaped Bose-Einstein condensate are created. It is shown that periodically modulating the transverse confinement, and thus the nonlinear interactions in the BEC, excites small amplitude longitudinal oscillations through a parametric resonance. It is also demonstrated that even without the presence of a continuous drive, an initial transverse breathing mode excitation of the condensate leads to spontaneous pattern formation in the longitudinal direction. Finally, the effects of strongly driving the transverse breathing mode with large amplitude are investigated. In this case, impact-oscillator behavior and intriguing nonlinear dynamics, including the gradual emergence of multiple longitudinal modes, are observed

Technique and clinical applications of full-inflation and end-exhalation controlled-ventilation chest CT in infants and young children

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Long, F.R.; Castile, R.G.

2001-01-01

Background. The inability of young children to cooperate with breath holding limits the usefulness of chest CT. Objective. To describe the technique and utility of a non-invasive method called controlled-ventilation CT (CVCT) for obtaining motion-free full-inflation and end-exhalation images of the lung in infants and young children. Materials and methods. Eighty-seven children (ages 1 week to 5 years, mean 2 years) underwent CVCT of the chest during suspended respiration at full-lung inflation and end-exhalation for a variety of clinical indications. Respiratory pauses were produced using conscious sedation and positive-pressure face-mask ventilation. Forty-one of 87 children had recordings of respiratory motion during CVCT. Results. Respiratory pause lengths increased with age (P < 0.003), were highly reproducible (r = 0.85), and lasted sufficiently long to be practical for full-inflation (24 ± 9 s) and end-exhalation (12 ± 5 s) CT scanning. Full-inflation CVCT was useful in evaluating tracheal and bronchial stenosis, bronchial wall thickening, early bronchiectasis, bronchial fistula, extent of interstitial fibrosis, and lung nodules. End-exhalation CVCT was useful in evaluating tracheomalacia and air trapping. Conclusion. Controlled-ventilation chest CT is a practical and reliable technique that promises to be clinically useful for a number of clinical indications in infants and young children. (orig.)

Thoron exhalation rate monitor with absorber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao Detao; Zhao Guizhi

2003-01-01

A measurement method of thoron exhalation rate is developed based on the characteristic of thorium C' which emits a α particle with higher energy than those of α particles released from radon and radon progenies. The principles of discriminating radon and realizing thoron exhalation rate measurement on the material surface with absorber, the passive and integrated thoron exhalation rate monitor studied, and its calibration coefficient determination method are introduced. The effectiveness of mitigating thoron exhalation rate of wall surface by depressurization inside wall and thoron exhalation rates on some materials surfaces were measured by using the studied monitors. The calibration coefficient of the studied monitor is R=0.246 cm -2 ·(kBq·m -3 ·h) -1 . The lower limit of detection is LLD=18.4 mBq·m -2 ·s -1 when the sampling period is 7 days and the standard deviation of background track densities of the adopted CR-39 SSNTD is s T =1.6 cm -2

Markers of Nucleic Acids and Proteins Oxidation among Office Workers Exposed to Air Pollutants Including (nano) TiO2 Particles.

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelclová, D.; Ždímal, Vladimír; Kačer, P.; Vlčková, Š.; Fenclová, Z.; Navrátil, Tomáš; Komarc, M.; Schwarz, Jaroslav; Zíková, Naděžda; Makeš, Otakar; Zakharov, S.

2016-01-01

Roč. 37, Suppl.1 (2016), s. 13-16 ISSN 0172-780X Institutional support: RVO:67985858 ; RVO:61388955 Keywords : nanoparticles * exhaled breath condensate * oxidative stress * occupation * TiO Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality; CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry (UFCH-W) OBOR OECD: Public and environmental health; Physical chemistry (UFCH-W) Impact factor: 0.918, year: 2016

Differences in the Chemical Composition of the Particulate Phase of Inhaled and Exhaled Cigarette Mainstream Smoke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moldoveanu SC

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this study, a comparison between the chemical composition of the particulate-phase of exhaled smoke and that of smoke generated with a smoking machine has been performed. For this purpose, eight human subjects smoked a common Lights (10.6 mg ‘tar’/cig commercial cigarette and the exhaled particulate-phase smoke from three cigarettes was collected on Cambridge pads for each smoker. The smoke collection from the human subjects was vacuum assisted. The cigarette butts from the smokers were collected and analyzed for nicotine. The machine smoking was performed with a Borgwaldt RM20 CSR smoking machine working under conditions recommended by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC. The nicotine levels for the cigarette butts from the smokers were used to normalize the level of exhaled smoke condensate to that of the FTC smoking conditions. The smoke condensates from exhaled smoke as well as that from the machine smoking were analyzed by a gas chromatographic technique with mass spectral peak identification. The retention efficiency for 160 compounds was calculated from the ratio of the compound peak areas in the exhaled smoke (normalized by the corresponding butt nicotine level vs. the areas of the corresponding peaks from the chromatogram of the smoke generated by the smoking machine. In the calculation of the results, it was assumed that the composition of mainstream smoke remains practically constant at different smoking regimes. All compounds found in the machine-generated smoke were also present in the exhaled smoke, but at different levels. About one third of the compounds were retained more than 66% by the smoker. Another third of the compounds were retained between 33% and 66%, and the rest of the compounds were retained very little from the mainstream particulate-phase of the cigarette smoke. The compounds retained more than 66% were in general compounds with lower molecular weight and with higher water solubility, which eluted first

Ventilatory mechanics and the effects of water depth on breathing pattern in the aquatic caecilian Typhlonectes natans.

Science.gov (United States)

Prabha, K C; Bernard, D G; Gardner, M; Smatresk, N J

2000-01-01

The breathing pattern in the aquatic caecilian Typhlonectes natans was investigated by recording airflow via a pneumotachograph under unrestrained normal physiological conditions. Ventilatory mechanics were assessed using airflow and pressure measurements from the buccal cavity and trachea. The breathing pattern consisted of an expiratory phase followed by a series of 10-15 small buccal pumps to inflate the lung, succeeded by a long non-ventilatory period. T. natans separate the expiratory and inspiratory gases in the buccal cavity and take several inspiratory pumps, distinguishing their breathing pattern from that of sarcopterygians. Hydrostatic pressure assisted exhalation. The tracheal pressure was greater than the water pressure at that depth, suggesting that pleuroperitoneal pressure as well as axial or pulmonary smooth muscles may have contributed to the process of exhalation. The frequency of lung ventilation was 6.33+/-0.84 breaths h(-)(1), and ventilation occurred via the nares. Compared with other amphibians, this low ventilatory frequency suggests that T. natans may have acquired very efficient pulmonary respiration as an adaptation for survival in their seasonally fluctuating natural habitat. Their respiratory pathway is quite unique, with the trachea separated into anterior, central and posterior regions. The anterior region serves as an air channel, the central region is attached to the tracheal lung, and the posterior region consists of a bifurcated air channel leading to the left and right posterior lungs. The lungs are narrow, elongated, profusely vascularized and compartmentalized. The posterior lungs extend to approximately two-thirds of the body length. On the basis of their breathing pattern, it appears that caecilians are phylogenetically derived from two-stroke breathers.

Analysis of breath volatile organic compounds in children with chronic liver disease compared to healthy controls.

Science.gov (United States)

Eng, Katharine; Alkhouri, Naim; Cikach, Frank; Patel, Nishaben; Yan, Chen; Grove, David; Lopez, Rocio; Rome, Ellen; Dweik, Raed A

2015-04-20

Breath testing is increasingly being used as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for disease states across medicine. The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as measured by mass spectrometry in healthy children and children with chronic liver disease (CLD). Patients between the ages of 6 and 21 were recruited for the study. Control subjects were recruited from a general pediatric population during well-child visits, while patients with CLD were recruited from pediatric gastroenterology clinic visits. The diagnosis of CLD was confirmed by clinical, laboratory, and/or histologic data. A single exhaled breath was collected and analyzed by means of selected-ion flow-tube mass spectrometry per protocol. A total of 104 patients were included in the study (49 with CLD and 55 healthy controls). Of the patients with CLD, 20 had advanced liver fibrosis (F3-F4). In the CLD cohort, levels of exhaled 1-decene, 1-heptene, 1-octene and 3 methylhexane were found to be significantly higher when compared to the control population (p CLD patients when compared to controls (p CLD was excellent (AUROC = 0.97). Our study demonstrates that children with CLD have a unique pattern of exhaled VOCs. Utilization of a combination of these VOCs represents a promising non-invasive diagnostic tool and may provide further insight into the pathophysiologic processes and pathways leading to pediatric liver disease. Further analysis of these compounds in external cohorts are needed to validate our findings.

Volatile metabolites in the exhaled breath of healthy volunteers: their levels and distributions

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Smith, D.; Turner, C.; Španěl, Patrik

2007-01-01

Roč. 1, - (2007), 014004R1-014004R12 ISSN 1752-7155 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503 Keywords : volatile metabolities * SIFT-MS * breath analysis Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry

Investigation of acetone, butanol and carbon dioxide as new breath biomarkers for convenient and noninvasive diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayrakli, Ismail; Öztürk, Önder; Akman, Hatice

2016-12-01

The objective of the present study was to investigate whether analysis of carbon dioxide, acetone and/or butanol present in human breath can be used as a simple and noninvasive diagnosis method for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). For this purpose, overnight changes in the concentrations of these breath molecules were measured before and after sleep in 10 patients who underwent polysomnography and were diagnosed with OSAS, and were compared with the levels of these biomarkers determined after sleep in 10 healthy subjects. The concentrations of exhaled carbon dioxide were measured using external cavity laser-based off-axis cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy, whereas the levels of exhaled acetone and butanol were determined using thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry. We observed no significant changes in the levels of exhaled acetone and carbon dioxide in OSAS patients after sleep compared with pre-sleep values and compared with those in healthy control subjects. However, for the first time, to our knowledge, analyses of expired air showed an increased concentration of butanol after sleep compared with that before sleep and compared with that in healthy subjects. These results suggest that butanol can be established as a potential biomarker to enable the convenient and noninvasive diagnosis of OSAS in the future. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Radon exhalation rates of some granites used in Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikolić Mladen D.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In order to address concern about radon exhalation in building material, radon exhalation rate was determined for different granites available on Serbian market. Radon exhalation rate, along with mass exhalation rate and effective radium content were determined by closed chamber method and active continuous radon measurement technique. For this research, special chambers were made and tested for back diffusion and leakage, and the radon concentrations measured were included in the calculation of radon exhalation. The radon exhalation rate ranged from 0.161 Bq/m2h to 0.576 Bq/m2h, the mass exhalation rate from 0.167 Bq/kgh to 0.678 Bq/kgh, while the effective radium content was found to be from 12.37 Bq/kg to 50.23 Bq/kg. The results indicate that the granites used in Serbia have a low level of radon exhalation.

Analysis of Exhaled Leukotrienes in Nonasthmatic Adult Patients with Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Čáp, P.; Pehal, F.; Malý, Marek; Chládek, J.

2005-01-01

Roč. 60, č. 2 (2005), s. 171-176 ISSN 0105-4538 Source of funding: V - iné verejné zdroje Keywords : allergic rhinitis * asthma * breath condensate * gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis * leukotrienes Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research Impact factor: 4.120, year: 2005

A mini review of dolphin carbohydrate metabolism and suggestions for future research using exhaled air

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sam eRidgway

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In the 1960s, I explored some aspects of carbohydrate metabolism in healthy bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus. Their physiological picture resembled what had been described for hyperthyroid diabetics. Dolphins have elevated thyroid hormone turnover, and fasting dolphins maintain a relatively high level of plasma glucose. After dolphins ingest glucose, plasma levels remain high for many hours. Interestingly, plasma glucose must exceed 300 mg/dL (about twice as high as the human threshold before glucose appears in urine. Due to their diabetes-like states, trainability, and unique natural respiratory anatomy and physiology, dolphins may offer useful clues to metabolites in the breath that may be used to non-invasively monitor diabetes in humans. Dolphins take very rapid and deep breaths that are four or five times as deep as humans and other terrestrial mammals, making them ideal for physiological assessment using non-invasive exhaled air. Avenues for successfully identifying breath-based markers for metabolic disease and physiology in dolphins can be done with both modern technology and the evolutionarily advantageous canine nose. This review summarizes aspects of dolphin metabolism previously learned and offers new directions for diabetes research that may benefit both dolphin and human health.

Dew inspired breathing-based detection of genetic point mutation visualized by naked eye

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Liping; Wang, Tongzhou; Huang, Tianqi; Hou, Wei; Huang, Guoliang; Du, Yanan

2014-09-01

A novel label-free method based on breathing-induced vapor condensation was developed for detection of genetic point mutation. The dew-inspired detection was realized by integration of target-induced DNA ligation with rolling circle amplification (RCA). The vapor condensation induced by breathing transduced the RCA-amplified variances in DNA contents into visible contrast. The image could be recorded by a cell phone for further or even remote analysis. This green assay offers a naked-eye-reading method potentially applied for point-of-care liver cancer diagnosis in resource-limited regions.

Determining the most stable breathing phase for respiratory gating using velocity deformable registration in patients with lung cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aarons, Y.; Wightman, F.; Roxby, P.; Kron, T.

2011-01-01

Full text: Respiratory gated radiotherapy is a high-precision technique where the treatment beam is turned on during a predetermined phase of the breathing cycle in order to minimise dose to surrounding healthy dose sensitive structures. We aim to compare inspiration and expiration phases to determine which is more stable in the breathing cycle to perform respiratory gating. Methods Nine patients underwent a planning time resolved 4DCT (Philips Brilliance 16-multislice widebore) and repeat 4DCT during weeks I, 3 and 5 of a radical course of radiotherapy for lung cancer. Inspiration scans were co-registered to the same phase image of the original planning CT using rigid and then deformable registration with Velocity software. The process was repeated for scans at exhalation phase. The deformation matrix for the diaphragm was used to compare the reproducibility of breathing phases. In the majority of patients (seven of nine) the expiration phase was found to be the more stable compared with inspiration. The maximum diaphragm displacement exceeded 3 cm in one case for the registered inhalation images while the deformation was typically half of that in the exhalation images. Interestingly, several patients showed significant differences in deformation for the left and right diaphragm. Conclusions In a group of lung cancer patients we found the expiration phase to be more reproducible for delivering respiratory gated RT, when compared with inspiration.

Controlled human exposure to indoor air, dust, and ozone; XDOZ

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Elholm, Grethe; Bønløkke, Jakob; Schlünssen, Vivi

2017-01-01

. All participants were subjected to four different exposure scenarios in the climate chamber.Exp. 1: Dust (250 – 300 µg/m3)Exp. 2: Ozone (100 ppb)Exp. 3: Dust (250 – 300 µg/m3) + ozone (100 ppb)Exp. 4: Filtered air (<20µg/m3)The exposure time was 5½ hours for each session.The health effects were...... evaluated at baseline and specific follow-up times in relation to selected respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes, such as; nasal volume, exhaled nitric oxide (FENO), spirometry (FEV1 and FVC), exhaled breath condensate (EBC), nasal lavage, blood samples, EndoPat. Questionnaires were used for assessment...

Chemical characterization of exhaled breath to differentiate between patients with malignant plueral mesothelioma from subjects with similar professional asbestos exposure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gennaro, G. de; Longobardi, F.; Stallone, G.; Trizio, L.; Tutino, M. [University of Bari Aldo Moro, Department of Chemistry, Bari (Italy); Dragonieri, S. [University of Bari Aldo Moro, Department of Pulmonology, Bari (Italy); Musti, M. [University of Bari Aldo Moro, Department of Occupational Medicine, Bari (Italy)

2010-12-15

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive tumour whose main aetiology is the long-term exposure to asbestos fibres. The diagnostic procedure of MPM is difficult and often requires invasive approaches; therefore, it is clinically important to find accurate markers for MPM by new noninvasive methods that may facilitate the diagnostic process and identify patients at an earlier stage. In the present study, the exhaled breath of 13 patients with histology-established diagnosis of MPM, 13 subjects with long-term certified professional exposure to asbestos (EXP) and 13 healthy subjects without exposure to asbestos (healthy controls, HC) were analysed. An analytical procedure to determine volatile organic compounds by sampling of air on a bed of solid sorbent and thermal desorption GC-MS analysis was developed in order to identify the compounds capable of discriminating among the three groups. The application of univariate (ANOVA) and multivariate statistical treatments (PCA, DFA and CP-ANN) showed that cyclopentane and cyclohexane were the dominant variables able to discriminate among the three groups. In particular, it was found that cyclohexane is the only compound able to differentiate the MPM group from the other two; therefore, it can be a possible marker of MPM. Cyclopentane is the dominant compound in the discrimination between EXP and the other groups (MPM and HC); then, it can be considered a good indicator for long-term asbestos exposure. This result suggests the need to perform frequent and thorough investigations on people exposed to asbestos in order to constantly monitor their state of health or possibly to study the evolution of disease over time. (orig.)

Mechanics of lung ventilation in a post-metamorphic salamander, Ambystoma Tigrinum.

Science.gov (United States)

Simons, R S; Bennett, W O; Brainerd, E L

2000-03-01

The mechanics of lung ventilation in frogs and aquatic salamanders has been well characterized, whereas lung ventilation in terrestrial-phase (post-metamorphic) salamanders has received little attention. We used electromyography (EMG), X-ray videography, standard videography and buccal and body cavity pressure measurements to characterize the ventilation mechanics of adult (post-metamorphic) tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum). Three results emerged: (i) under terrestrial conditions or when floating at the surface of the water, adult A. tigrinum breathed through their nares using a two-stroke buccal pump; (ii) in addition to this narial two-stroke pump, adult tiger salamanders also gulped air in through their mouths using a modified two-stroke buccal pump when in an aquatic environment; and (iii) exhalation in adult tiger salamanders is active during aquatic gulping breaths, whereas exhalation appears to be passive during terrestrial breathing at rest. Active exhalation in aquatic breaths is indicated by an increase in body cavity pressure during exhalation and associated EMG activity in the lateral hypaxial musculature, particularly the M. transversus abdominis. In terrestrial breathing, no EMG activity in the lateral hypaxial muscles is generally present, and body cavity pressure decreases during exhalation. In aquatic breaths, tidal volume is larger than in terrestrial breaths, and breathing frequency is much lower (approximately 1 breath 10 min(-)(1 )versus 4-6 breaths min(-)(1)). The use of hypaxial muscles to power active exhalation in the aquatic environment may result from the need for more complete exhalation and larger tidal volumes when breathing infrequently. This hypothesis is supported by previous findings that terrestrial frogs ventilate their lungs with small tidal volumes and exhale passively, whereas aquatic frogs and salamanders use large tidal volumes and and exhale actively.

Localized nonlinear waves and dynamical stability in spinor Bose–Einstein condensates with time–space modulation

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Yu-Qin; Han, Wei; Li, Ji; Liu, Wu-Ming

2018-05-01

Nonlinearity is one of the most remarkable characteristics of Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs). Much work has been done on one- and two-component BECs with time- or space-modulated nonlinearities, while there is little work on spinor BECs with space–time-modulated nonlinearities. In the present paper we investigate localized nonlinear waves and dynamical stability in spinor Bose–Einstein condensates with nonlinearities dependent on time and space. We solve the three coupled Gross–Pitaevskii equations by similarity transformation and obtain two families of exact matter wave solutions in terms of Jacobi elliptic functions and the Mathieu equation. The localized states of the spinor matter wave describe the dynamics of vector breathing solitons, moving breathing solitons, quasi-breathing solitons and resonant solitons. The results show that one-order vector breathing solitons, quasi-breathing solitons, resonant solitons and the moving breathing solitons ψ ±1 are all stable, but the moving breathing soliton ψ 0 is unstable. We also present the experimental parameters to realize these phenomena in future experiments.

Relationship between musical characteristics and temporal breathing pattern in piano performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yutaka Sakaguchi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Although there is growing evidence that breathing is modulated by various motor and cognitive activities, the nature of breathing in musical performance has been little explored. The present study examined the temporal breath pattern in piano performance, aiming to elucidate how breath timing is related to musical organization/events and performance. In the experiments, the respiration of 15 professional and amateur pianists, playing 10 music excerpts in total (from four-octave C major scale, Hanon’s exercise, J. S. Bach’s Invention, Mozart’s Sonatas, and Debussy’s Clair de lune, was monitored by capnography. The relationship between breathing and musical characteristics was analyzed. Five major results were obtained. 1 Mean breath interval was shortened for excerpts in faster tempi. 2 Fluctuation of breath intervals was reduced for the pieces for finger exercise and those in faster tempi. Pianists showing large within-trial fluctuation also exhibited large inter-excerpt difference. 3 Inter-trial consistency of the breath patterns depended on the excerpts. Consistency was generally reduced for the excerpts that could be performed mechanically (i.e., pieces for finger exercise, but interestingly, one third of the participant showed consistent patterns for the simple scale, correlated with the ascending/descending sequences. 4 Pianists tended to exhale just after the music onsets, inhale at the rests, and inhibit inhale during the slur parts. There was correlation between breathing pattern and two-voice polyphonic structure for several participants. 5 Respiratory patterns were notably different among the pianists. Every pianist showed his or her own characteristic features commonly for various musical works. These findings suggest that breathing in piano performance depends not only on musical parameters and organization written in the score but also some pianist-dependent factors which might be ingrained to individual pianists.

Relationship between Musical Characteristics and Temporal Breathing Pattern in Piano Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakaguchi, Yutaka; Aiba, Eriko

2016-01-01

Although there is growing evidence that breathing is modulated by various motor and cognitive activities, the nature of breathing in musical performance has been little explored. The present study examined the temporal breath pattern in piano performance, aiming to elucidate how breath timing is related to musical organization/events and performance. In the experiments, the respiration of 15 professional and amateur pianists, playing 10 music excerpts in total (from four-octave C major scale, Hanon's exercise, J. S. Bach's Invention, Mozart's Sonatas, and Debussy's Clair de lune), was monitored by capnography. The relationship between breathing and musical characteristics was analyzed. Five major results were obtained. (1) Mean breath interval was shortened for excerpts in faster tempi. (2) Fluctuation of breath intervals was reduced for the pieces for finger exercise and those in faster tempi. Pianists showing large within-trial fluctuation also exhibited large inter-excerpt difference. (3) Inter-trial consistency of the breath patterns depended on the excerpts. Consistency was generally reduced for the excerpts that could be performed mechanically (i.e., pieces for finger exercise), but interestingly, one third of the participant showed consistent patterns for the simple scale, correlated with the ascending/descending sequences. (4) Pianists tended to exhale just after the music onsets, inhale at the rests, and inhibit inhale during the slur parts. There was correlation between breathing pattern and two-voice polyphonic structure for several participants. (5) Respiratory patterns were notably different among the pianists. Every pianist showed his or her own characteristic features commonly for various musical works. These findings suggest that breathing in piano performance depends not only on musical parameters and organization written in the score but also some pianist-dependent factors which might be ingrained to individual pianists.

Breath Ketone Testing: A New Biomarker for Diagnosis and Therapeutic Monitoring of Diabetic Ketosis

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Yue Qiao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Acetone, β-hydroxybutyric acid, and acetoacetic acid are three types of ketone body that may be found in the breath, blood, and urine. Detecting altered concentrations of ketones in the breath, blood, and urine is crucial for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic ketosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the advantages of different detection methods for ketones, and to establish whether detection of the concentration of ketones in the breath is an effective and practical technique. Methods. We measured the concentrations of acetone in the breath using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and β-hydroxybutyrate in fingertip blood collected from 99 patients with diabetes assigned to groups 1 (−, 2 (±, 3 (+, 4 (++, or 5 (+++ according to urinary ketone concentrations. Results. There were strong relationships between fasting blood glucose, age, and diabetic ketosis. Exhaled acetone concentration significantly correlated with concentrations of fasting blood glucose, ketones in the blood and urine, LDL-C, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen. Conclusions. Breath testing for ketones has a high sensitivity and specificity and appears to be a noninvasive, convenient, and repeatable method for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of diabetic ketosis.

The origin of mouth-exhaled ammonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, W; Metsälä, M; Vaittinen, O; Halonen, L

2014-09-01

It is known that the oral cavity is a production site for mouth-exhaled NH3. However, the mechanism of NH3 production in the oral cavity has been unclear. Since bacterial urease in the oral cavity has been found to produce ammonia from oral fluid urea, we hypothesize that oral fluid urea is the origin of mouth-exhaled NH3. Our results show that under certain conditions a strong correlation exists between oral fluid urea and oral fluid ammonia (NH4(+)+NH3) (rs = 0.77, p oral fluid NH3 and mouth-exhaled NH3 (rs = 0.81, p oral fluid pH. Bacterial urease catalyses the hydrolysis of oral fluid urea to ammonia (NH4(+)+NH3). Oral fluid ammonia (NH4(+)+NH3) and pH determine the concentration of oral fluid NH3, which evaporates from oral fluid into gas phase and turns to mouth-exhaled NH3.

Exhaled CO, a predictor of lung function?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fabricius, Peder; Scharling, Henrik; Løkke, Anders

2007-01-01

and whether CO could provide additional information to usual measures of smoking regarding prediction of present lung function and decline in lung function over an extended period of time. METHOD: Cigarette smokers from the Copenhagen City Heart Study with valid measures of lung function and exhaled CO......; in total 3738 subjects, 2096 women and 1642 men. RESULTS: Subjects not inhaling had slightly lower exhaled CO values than those inhaling, but substantially higher values than non-smokers (PSmokers of plain cigarettes had slightly lower CO values than smokers of filter cigarettes (P...BACKGROUND: Smoking is associated with an accelerated loss of lung function and inhalation accelerates the decline further. Exhaled CO reflects the exposure of smoke to the lungs. AIM: To investigate whether self-reported inhalation and type of cigarette influenced the level of exhaled CO...

Exhalation of radon and thoron from ground surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Megumi, Kazuko

1978-01-01

When radon and thoron in the environment are considered, the exhalations of radon and thoron from the ground surface are important. The following matters are described: a method of measuring directly the quantities of radon and thoron exhaled from the ground surface, the respective quantities measured by the method in summer and winter, and the dependence of the exhalations upon soil particle sizes. In this direct method, to obtain the exhalation quantities, radon and thoron from the ground surface are adsorbed in granular active carbon, and the γ-ray spectra are measured. The method is capable of measuring radon and thoron simultaneously in direct and inexpensive manner. For continuous measurement, however, it needs further improvement. The measurements by the method revealed the difference between summer and winter, the effect of rainfall, the dependence on soil particle size and on soil moisture of radon and thoron exhalations. (J.P.N.)

Variation of radon exhalation on building materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Fudong; Liu Senlin; Wang Chunhong; Pan Ziqiang; Zhang Yonggui; Ji Dong

2009-01-01

The 19 samples from different building material factories were collected for four kinds of building materials. The activity concentration and radon exhalation of building materials were measured. The radon exhalations of building materials are not obviously different if the component is same and the processes of building materials are similar. However, the radon exhalations of same kind of building material are greatly different if the components are different and the processes of building material are varied even if the activity concentrations of building material are similar. (authors)

Measurement of thoron exhalation rates from building materials.

Science.gov (United States)

de With, G; de Jong, P; Röttger, A

2014-09-01

Thoron (220Rn) exhalation from building materials has become increasingly recognized as a potential source for radiation exposure in dwellings. However, contrary to radon (220Rn), limited information on thoron exposure is available. The purpose of this study is to develop a test method for the determination of the thoron exhalation rate from building materials. The method is validated, and subsequently the thoron exhalation rates from 10 widely-applied concretes, gypsums, brick, limestone, and mortar are determined. The measured thoron exhalation rates of these materials range from 0.01 Bq m-2 s-1 to 0.43 Bq m-2 s-1, with relative standard uncertainties between 6% to 14%.

POTENTIALS OF RAMAN BASED SENSOR SYSTEM FOR AN ONLINE ANALYSIS OF HUMAN INHALE AND EXHALE

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T. Seeger

2015-11-01

Full Text Available A gas sensor based on spontaneous Raman scattering is proposed for the compositional analysis of single breath events. A description of the sensor as well as of the calibration procedure, which also allows the quantification of condensable gases, is presented. Moreover, a comprehensive characterization of the system is carried out in order to determine the measurement uncertainty. Finally, the sensor is applied to consecutive breath events and allowed measurements with 250 ms time resolution. The Raman sensor is able to detect all the major gas components, i.e. N2, O2, CO2, and H2O at ambient pressure with a high temporal resolution. Concentration fluctuations within a single breath event could be resolved.

Exhaled Leukotrienes and Bronchial Responsiveness to Methacholine in Patients with Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Čáp, P.; Malý, Marek; Pehal, F.; Pelikán, Z.

2009-01-01

Roč. 102, č. 2 (2009), s. 103-109 ISSN 1081-1206 Grant - others:GA MZd(CZ) NL7024 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : allergic rhinitis * asthma * breath condensate * leukotrienes * gas chromatography * mass spectrometry analysis Subject RIV: FN - Epidemiology, Contagious Diseases ; Clinical Immunology Impact factor: 2.457, year: 2009

Radon exhalation from building materials for decorative use

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen Jing, E-mail: jing.chen@hc-sc.gc.c [Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 775 Brookfield Road, Ottawa K1A 1C1 (Canada); Rahman, Naureen M.; Atiya, Ibrahim Abu [Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 775 Brookfield Road, Ottawa K1A 1C1 (Canada)

2010-04-15

Long-term exposure to radon increases the risk of developing lung cancer. There is considerable public concern about radon exhalation from building materials and the contribution to indoor radon levels. To address this concern, radon exhalation rates were determined for 53 different samples of drywall, tile and granite available on the Canadian market for interior home decoration. The radon exhalation rates ranged from non-detectable to 312 Bq m{sup -2} d{sup -1}. Slate tiles and granite slabs had relatively higher radon exhalation rates than other decorative materials, such as ceramic or porcelain tiles. The average radon exhalation rates were 30 Bq m{sup -2} d{sup -1} for slate tiles and 42 Bq m{sup -2} d{sup -1} for granite slabs of various types and origins. Analysis showed that even if an entire floor was covered with a material having a radon exhalation rate of 300 Bq m{sup -2} d{sup -1}, it would contribute only 18 Bq m{sup -3} to a tightly sealed house with an air exchange rate of 0.3 per hour. Generally speaking, building materials used in home decoration make no significant contribution to indoor radon for a house with adequate air exchange.

13CO2/12CO2 isotope ratio analysis in human breath using a 2 μm diode laser

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Mingguo; Cao, Zhensong; Liu, Kun; Wang, Guishi; Tan, Tu; Gao, Xiaoming; Chen, Weidong; Yinbo, Huang; Ruizhong, Rao

2015-04-01

The bacterium H. pylori is believed to cause peptic ulcer. H. pylori infection in the human stomach can be diagnosed through a CO2 isotope ratio measure in exhaled breath. A laser spectrometer based on a distributed-feedback semiconductor diode laser at 2 μm is developed to measure the changes of 13CO2/12CO2 isotope ratio in exhaled breath sample with the CO2 concentration of ~4%. It is characterized by a simplified optical layout, in which a single detector and associated electronics are used to probe CO2 spectrum. A new type multi-passes cell with 12 cm long base length , 29 m optical path length in total and 280 cm3 volume is used in this work. The temperature and pressure are well controlled at 301.15 K and 6.66 kPa with fluctuation amplitude of 25 mK and 6.7 Pa, respectively. The best 13δ precision of 0.06o was achieved by using wavelet denoising and Kalman filter. The application of denoising and Kalman filter not only improved the signal to noise ratio, but also shorten the system response time.

Exhaled ethane: an in vivo biomarker of lipid peroxidation in interstitial lung diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanoh, Soichiro; Kobayashi, Hideo; Motoyoshi, Kazuo

2005-10-01

Oxidative stress plays a role in the pathogenesis and progression of interstitial lung disease (ILD). Exhaled ethane is a product of lipid peroxidation that has been proposed as a biomarker of oxidative stress in vivo. To determine whether the exhaled ethane level is elevated in patients with ILD and to compare it with other clinical parameters. Breath samples were collected from 34 patients with ILD, including 13 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), 9 patients with cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, 6 patients with collagen vascular disease-associated interstitial pneumonia, and 6 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis. Gas samples were obtained at hospital admission and after 3 weeks. After each expired sample was concentrated using a trap-and-purge procedure, the ethane level was analyzed by gas chromatography. Exhaled ethane levels were elevated in ILD patients (n = 34, mean +/- SD, 8.5 +/- 8.0 pmol/dL) compared with healthy volunteers (n = 16, 2.9 +/- 1.0 pmol/dL; p ethane levels were largely consistent with the clinical course. Four patients with IPF who had persistently high ethane levels died or deteriorated, whereas those with ethane levels ethane concentrations were positively correlated with levels of lactate dehydrogenase (Spearman rank correlation coefficient [rs], 0.28, p = 0.026) and C-reactive protein (rs, 0.38, p = 0.025) and were inversely correlated with Pa(O2) (rs, - 0.40, p = 0.0026). Patients showing increased uptake on (67)Ga scintigraphy demonstrated higher ethane levels (n = 19, 7.5 +/- 5.7 pmol/dL) compared with those who did not show increased uptake on scintigraphy (n = 10, 3.0 +/- 2.4 pmol/dL; p ethane is elevated in patients with ILD and is correlated with the clinical outcome, suggesting that it provides useful information about ongoing oxidative stress, and thereby disease activity and severity in ILD.

Short-Term Intra-Subject Variation in Exhaled Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs in COPD Patients and Healthy Controls and Its Effect on Disease Classification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Phillips

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs are of interest for their potential to diagnose disease non-invasively. However, most breath VOC studies have analyzed single breath samples from an individual and assumed them to be wholly consistent representative of the person. This provided the motivation for an investigation of the variability of breath profiles when three breath samples are taken over a short time period (two minute intervals between samples for 118 stable patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD and 63 healthy controls and analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy (GC/MS. The extent of the variation in VOC levels differed between COPD and healthy subjects and the patterns of variation differed for isoprene versus the bulk of other VOCs. In addition, machine learning approaches were applied to the breath data to establish whether these samples differed in their ability to discriminate COPD from healthy states and whether aggregation of multiple samples, into single data sets, could offer improved discrimination. The three breath samples gave similar classification accuracy to one another when evaluated separately (66.5% to 68.3% subjects classified correctly depending on the breath repetition used. Combining multiple breath samples into single data sets gave better discrimination (73.4% subjects classified correctly. Although accuracy is not sufficient for COPD diagnosis in a clinical setting, enhanced sampling and analysis may improve accuracy further. Variability in samples, and short-term effects of practice or exertion, need to be considered in any breath testing program to improve reliability and optimize discrimination.

Investigation of a breathing surrogate prediction algorithm for prospective pulmonary gating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, Benjamin M.; Low, Daniel A.; Zhao Tianyu; Wuenschel, Sara; Lu, Wei; Lamb, James M.; Mutic, Sasa; Bradley, Jeffrey D.; El Naqa, Issam

2011-01-01

Purpose: A major challenge of four dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) in treatment planning and delivery has been the lack of respiration amplitude and phase reproducibility during image acquisition. The implementation of a prospective gating algorithm would ensure that images would be acquired only during user-specified breathing phases. This study describes the development and testing of an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model for human respiratory phase prediction under quiet respiration conditions. Methods: A total of 47 4DCT patient datasets and synchronized respiration records was utilized in this study. Three datasets were used in model development and were removed from further evaluation of the ARMA model. The remaining 44 patient datasets were evaluated with the ARMA model for prediction time steps from 50 to 1000 ms in increments of 50 and 100 ms. Thirty-five of these datasets were further used to provide a comparison between the proposed ARMA model and a commercial algorithm with a prediction time step of 240 ms. Results: The optimal number of parameters for the ARMA model was based on three datasets reserved for model development. Prediction error was found to increase as the prediction time step increased. The minimum prediction time step required for prospective gating was selected to be half of the gantry rotation period. The maximum prediction time step with a conservative 95% confidence criterion was found to be 0.3 s. The ARMA model predicted peak inhalation and peak exhalation phases significantly better than the commercial algorithm. Furthermore, the commercial algorithm had numerous instances of missed breath cycles and falsely predicted breath cycles, while the proposed model did not have these errors. Conclusions: An ARMA model has been successfully applied to predict human respiratory phase occurrence. For a typical CT scanner gantry rotation period of 0.4 s (0.2 s prediction time step), the absolute error was relatively small, 0

The exhalant jet of mussels Mytilus edulis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riisgard, Hans Ulrik; Jørgensen, Bo Hoffmann; Lundgreen, Kim

2011-01-01

shell lengths. Here, we present results of a detailed study of fully open mussels Mytilus edulis in terms of filtration rate, exhalant siphon aperture area, jet velocity, gill area and body dry weight, all as a function of shell length (mean +/- SD) over the range 16.0 +/- 0.4 to 82.6 +/- 2.9 mm...... detailed 2-component velocity distributions near the exhalant siphon in 5 planes parallel to the axis of the jet and the major axis of the oval aperture, and hence estimates of momentum and kinetic energy flows in addition to mean velocity. Data obtained on particles inside the exhalant jet of filtered...

Real-Time Analysis of Isoprene in Breath by Using Ultraviolet-Absorption Spectroscopy with a Hollow Optical Fiber Gas Cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwata, Takuro; Katagiri, Takashi; Matsuura, Yuji

2016-12-05

A breath analysis system based on ultraviolet-absorption spectroscopy was developed by using a hollow optical fiber as a gas cell for real-time monitoring of isoprene in breath. The hollow optical fiber functions as an ultra-small-volume gas cell with a long path. The measurement sensitivity of the system was evaluated by using nitric-oxide gas as a gas sample. The evaluation result showed that the developed system, using a laser-driven, high-intensity light source and a 3-m-long, aluminum-coated hollow optical fiber, could successfully measure nitric-oxide gas with a 50 ppb concentration. An absorption spectrum of a breath sample in the wavelength region of around 200-300 nm was measured, and the measured spectrum revealed the main absorbing components in breath as water vapor, isoprene, and ozone converted from oxygen by radiation of ultraviolet light. The concentration of isoprene in breath was estimated by multiple linear regression. The regression analysis results showed that the proposed analysis system enables real-time monitoring of isoprene during the exhaling of breath. Accordingly, it is suitable for measuring the circadian variation of isoprene.

Real-Time Analysis of Isoprene in Breath by Using Ultraviolet-Absorption Spectroscopy with a Hollow Optical Fiber Gas Cell

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takuro Iwata

2016-12-01

Full Text Available A breath analysis system based on ultraviolet-absorption spectroscopy was developed by using a hollow optical fiber as a gas cell for real-time monitoring of isoprene in breath. The hollow optical fiber functions as an ultra-small-volume gas cell with a long path. The measurement sensitivity of the system was evaluated by using nitric-oxide gas as a gas sample. The evaluation result showed that the developed system, using a laser-driven, high-intensity light source and a 3-m-long, aluminum-coated hollow optical fiber, could successfully measure nitric-oxide gas with a 50 ppb concentration. An absorption spectrum of a breath sample in the wavelength region of around 200–300 nm was measured, and the measured spectrum revealed the main absorbing components in breath as water vapor, isoprene, and ozone converted from oxygen by radiation of ultraviolet light. The concentration of isoprene in breath was estimated by multiple linear regression. The regression analysis results showed that the proposed analysis system enables real-time monitoring of isoprene during the exhaling of breath. Accordingly, it is suitable for measuring the circadian variation of isoprene.

Gated CT imaging using a free-breathing respiration signal from flow-volume spirometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Souza, Warren D.; Kwok, Young; Deyoung, Chad; Zacharapoulos, Nicholas; Pepelea, Mark; Klahr, Paul; Yu, Cedric X.

2005-01-01

Respiration-induced tumor motion is known to cause artifacts on free-breathing spiral CT images used in treatment planning. This leads to inaccurate delineation of target volumes on planning CT images. Flow-volume spirometry has been used previously for breath-holds during CT scans and radiation treatments using the active breathing control (ABC) system. We have developed a prototype by extending the flow-volume spirometer device to obtain gated CT scans using a PQ 5000 single-slice CT scanner. To test our prototype, we designed motion phantoms to compare image quality obtained with and without gated CT scan acquisition. Spiral and axial (nongated and gated) CT scans were obtained of phantoms with motion periods of 3-5 s and amplitudes of 0.5-2 cm. Errors observed in the volume estimate of these structures were as much as 30% with moving phantoms during CT simulation. Application of motion-gated CT with active breathing control reduced these errors to within 5%. Motion-gated CT was then implemented in patients and the results are presented for two clinical cases: lung and abdomen. In each case, gated scans were acquired at end-inhalation, end-exhalation in addition to a conventional free-breathing (nongated) scan. The gated CT scans revealed reduced artifacts compared with the conventional free-breathing scan. Differences of up to 20% in the volume of the structures were observed between gated and free-breathing scans. A comparison of the overlap of structures between the gated and free-breathing scans revealed misalignment of the structures. These results demonstrate the ability of flow-volume spirometry to reduce errors in target volumes via gating during CT imaging

Unconstrained monitoring of long-term heart and breath rates during sleep

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Wenxi; Zhu, Xin; Wei, Daming; Nemoto, Tetsu; Sugitani, Kayo; Kitamura, Kei-ichiro

2008-01-01

An unconstrained method for the long-term monitoring of heart and breath rates during sleep is proposed. The system includes a sensor unit and a web-based network module. The sensor unit is set beneath a pillow to pick up the pressure variations from the head induced by inhalation/exhalation movements and heart pulsation during sleep. The measured pressure signal was digitized and transferred to a remote database server via the network module. A wavelet-based algorithm was employed to detect the heart and breath rates, as well as body movement, during sleep. The overall system was utilized for a total six-month trial operation delivered to a female subject. The profiles of the heart and breath rates on a beat-by-beat and daily basis were obtained. Movements during sleep were also estimated. The results show that the daily average percentage of undetectable periods (UPs) during 881.6 sleep hours over a 180 day period was 17.2%. A total of 89.2% of sleep hours had a UP of not more than 25%. The profile of the heart rate revealed a periodic property that corresponded to the female monthly menstrual cycle. Our system shows promise as a long-term unconstrained monitor for heart and breath rates, and for other physiological parameters related to the quality of sleep and the regularity of the menstrual cycle. (note)

Detection of Helicobacter pylori infection by examination of human breath odor using electronic nose Bloodhound-214ST

Science.gov (United States)

Shnayder, E. P.; Moshkin, M. P.; Petrovskii, D. V.; Shevela, A. I.; Babko, A. N.; Kulikov, V. G.

2009-05-01

Our aim was to examine the possibility of use e-nose Bloodhound-214ST to determine presence or absence of H. pylori infection using exhalation samples of patients. Breath samples were collected twice: at baseline and after oral administration of 500 mg of urea. H. pylori status of patients was confirmed by antral biopsy. Using two approaches for the data analysis we showed the possibility to distinguish H. pylori free and infected patients.

The 14C-monomethylamino-antipyrine breath test as in vivo parameter for characterizing the induction of the drug catabolizing enzyme system in the guinea pig

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gramatzki, S.

1981-01-01

The aim of these investigations was to help clarify the following questions: 1) Does MAAP, following 14 C labelling of the exocyclic aminomethyl group, offer a suitable substrate for a breath test in guinea pigs. 2) Which procedures for evaluating the 14 C exhalation curves of the breath test are especially valid. 3) Can an induction of the drug catabolizing enzyme system following pre-treatment with various inducing substances be detected by the 14 C-MAAP breath test. 4) Do inducer-specific differences arise in response to the 14 C-MAAP breath test by which the inducers can be characterized. 5) Is monomethylamino-antipyrine similar to amidopyrine in that it is a suitable independent in vivo parameter for the drug metasbolizing enzyme system in the liver of guinea pigs. (orig./MG) [de

Exhalation of Rn-222 from soil: some aspects of variations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raghavayya, M.; Khan, A.H.; Padmanabhan, N.; Srivastava, G.K.

1982-01-01

The exhalation of radon from soil and uranium mill tailings piles is discussed. This process is a complex phenomenon. The exhalation rate depends on such variables as radium content, moisture content and porosity of soil, variation of atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature, wind speed, etc. In an attempt to eliminate variations introduced by geographical location the exhalation rate is estimated at a fixed location. Measurements were carried out almost daily over a one year period. Exhalation rate has shown a wide variation, from almost zero to plus 900 pCi/m 2 .min. Measurements are still being continued. It was seen that exhalation rate fell drastically soon after a heavy shower when the ground was soaking wet. Emanation was found to increase as the ground began to dry and fall again when the ground was bone dry. Radon exhalation rates were also measured at different locations on a uranium tailings pile. Here also wide variation was observed

Uniformity in radon exhalation from construction materials using can technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

El-Amri, E.A.; Al-Jarallah, M.I. E-mail: mibrahim@kfupm.edu.sa; Abu-Jarad, F.; Fazal-ur-Rehman

2003-06-01

The uniformity in radon exhalation rates for 46 tiles of granite, marble and ceramic used as construction materials were determined using 'Can Technique' employing CR-39 nuclear track detectors (NTDs). On each tile, two sealed cans, each enclosing one NTD fixed at the center of the tile surface area covered by the can, were mounted at two different locations of each individual tiles. The track production rates on the NTDs representing radon exhalation rates were measured. The radon exhalation rates from the surface of individual tiles showed uniform exhalations within the calculated uncertainties of the measured values. This makes Can Technique an alternative simple method to measure radon exhalation rates. Calibration required to convert track production rates into radon exhalation rates for the used can and NTD was done using an active technique. The correlation between the measurements by the two techniques shows a good linear correlation coefficient (0.83)

Estimation of thorium lung burden in mineral separation plant workers by thoron-in-breath measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radhakrishnan, Sujata; Sreekumar, K.; Tripathi, R.M.; Puranik, V.D.; Selvan, Esai

2010-01-01

The Minerals Separation Plant (MSP) of M/s Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL) at Manavalakurichi in Tamil Nadu is engaged in the processing of beach sands to separate ilmenite, monazite, rutile, sillimanite, garnet, and zircon. The present study has been carried out on nearly 200 workers of the mineral separation plant who are chronically exposed to the radiation hazards. Measurement of thoron in the exhaled breath of the worker is an indirect method of estimating the body burden with regard to Th

BreathDx - molecular analysis of exhaled breath as a diagnostic test for ventilator-associated pneumonia: protocol for a European multicentre observational study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Oort, Pouline M. P.; Nijsen, Tamara; Weda, Hans; Knobel, Hugo; Dark, Paul; Felton, Timothy; Rattray, Nicholas J. W.; Lawal, Oluwasola; Ahmed, Waqar; Portsmouth, Craig; Sterk, Peter J.; Schultz, Marcus J.; Zakharkina, Tetyana; Artigas, Antonio; Povoa, Pedro; Martin-Loeches, Ignacio; Fowler, Stephen J.; Bos, Lieuwe D. J.; Camprubi, Marta; Coelho, Luis; Davie, Alan; Diaz, Emili; Goma, Gemma; Goodacre, Royston; Leopold, Jan-Hendrik; Rijnders, Guus; Steenwelle, Ruud; Valles, Jordi; Verhoeckx, Fred; Vink, Anton; Winters, Tineke

2017-01-01

The diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) remains time-consuming and costly, the clinical tools lack specificity and a bedside test to exclude infection in suspected patients is unavailable. Breath contains hundreds to thousands of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that result from host

Experimental Study Abour How the Thermal Plume Affects the Air Quality a Person Breathes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olmedo, Inés; Nielsen, Peter V.; Ruiz de Adana, Manuel

2011-01-01

of this research is to increase the knowledge of how the thermal plume generated by a person affects the PME and therefore the concentration of contaminants in the inhalation area. An experimental study in a displacement ventilation room was carried out. Experiments were developed in a full scale test chamber 4.......10 m (length), 3.2 m (width), 2.7 m (height). The incoming air is distributed through a wall-mounted displacement diffuser. A breathing thermal manikin exhaling through the mouth and inhaling through the nose was used. A tracer gas, N2O, was used to simulate the gaseous substances, which might...... be considered as biological contaminants, exhaled by the manikin. The manikin was operated in three different heat fluxes with a value of: 0W, 94 W and 120 W. During the experiments six concentration probes were situated in the room. Three concentration tubes were fixed on the surface of the manikin at three...

Effect of humidity on radon exhalation rate from concrete

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamanishi, Hirokuni; Obayashi, Haruo; Tsuji, Naruhito; Nakayoshi, Hisao

1998-01-01

The objective of the present study is evaluation of seasonal humidity effect on radon exhalation rate from concrete. Three concrete pieces have been placed in three different fixed humidity circumstances for about a year. The three fixed humidities are selected 3, 10, 25 g m -3 in absolute humidity, those correspond to dry condition as control, winter and summer, respectively. Radon exhalation rate from each concrete piece is measured every one month during humidity exposure. Under the lower humidity, radon exhalation rate from concrete is small. On the contrary, radon exhalation rate is large in the higher humidity circumstance. This trend is consistent with the seasonal variation of indoor air radon concentration in low air-exchange-rate room. (author)

Reproducibility of exhaled nitric oxide measurements in overweight and obese adults

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thijs, Willemien; de Mutsert, Renée; le Cessie, Saskia; Hiemstra, Pieter S.; Rosendaal, Frits R.; Middeldorp, Saskia; Rabe, Klaus F.

2014-01-01

Exhaled nitric oxide is a noninvasive measure of airway inflammation that can be detected by a handheld device. Obesity may influence the reproducibility of exhaled nitric oxide measurements, by - for instance - decreased expiratory reserve volume. We analyzed triple exhaled nitric oxide

Fuel Exhaling Fuel Cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Manzoor Bhat, Zahid; Thimmappa, Ravikumar; Devendrachari, Mruthyunjayachari Chattanahalli; Kottaichamy, Alagar Raja; Shafi, Shahid Pottachola; Varhade, Swapnil; Gautam, Manu; Thotiyl, Musthafa Ottakam

2018-01-18

State-of-the-art proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) anodically inhale H 2 fuel and cathodically expel water molecules. We show an unprecedented fuel cell concept exhibiting cathodic fuel exhalation capability of anodically inhaled fuel, driven by the neutralization energy on decoupling the direct acid-base chemistry. The fuel exhaling fuel cell delivered a peak power density of 70 mW/cm 2 at a peak current density of 160 mA/cm 2 with a cathodic H 2 output of ∼80 mL in 1 h. We illustrate that the energy benefits from the same fuel stream can at least be doubled by directing it through proposed neutralization electrochemical cell prior to PEMFC in a tandem configuration.

[Confrontation of knowledge on alcohol concentration in blood and in exhaled air].

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Miroslav; Bauerová, Jiřina; Šikuta, Ján; Šidlo, Jozef

2015-01-01

The authors of the paper give a brief historical overview of the development of experimental alcohology in the former Czechoslovakia. Enhanced attention is paid to tests of work quality control of toxicological laboratories. Information on results of control tests of blood samples using the method of gas chromatography in Slovakia and within a world-wide study "Eurotox 1990" is presented. There are pointed out the pitfalls related to objective evaluation of the analysis results interpreting alcohol concentration in biological materials and the associated need to eliminate a negative influence of the human factor. The authors recommend performing analyses of alcohol in biological materials only at accredited workplaces and in the case of samples storage to secure a mandatory inhibition of phosphorylation process. There are analysed the reasons of numerical differences of analyses while taking evidence of alcohol in blood and in exhaled air. The authors confirm analysis accuracy using the method of gas chromatography along with breath analysers of exhaled air. They highlight the need for making the analysis results more objective also through confrontation with the results of clinical examination and with examined circumstances. The authors suggest a method of elimination of the human factor, the most frequently responsible for inaccuracy, to a tolerable level (safety factor) and the need of sample analysis by two methods independent of each other or the need of analysis of two biological materials.

Personal factors affecting thoron exhalation from occupationally acquired thorium body burdens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stebbings, J.H.

1985-01-01

Thorium workers with thorium body burdens (primarily thoracic) above 0.7 nCi 224 Ra equivalent are shown to exhale about 15% of thoron produced in vivo, compared to 5% exhaled by subjects with body burdens in the range of 0.4 to 0.7 nCi 224 Ra. There was a false negative correlation between average adult daily cigarettes smoked and thoron exhalation. White blood cell counts that were about 85% of expected were observed in seven subjects exhaling greater than or equal to 100 pCi of thoron above predicted; no other variable examined showed a clear pattern of association. These differences in fractional thoron exhalation, and their consequences, are discussed. 3 references, 4 figures, 8 tables

Mobile Sensor System AGaMon for Breath Control: Numerical Signal Analysis of Ternary Gas Mixtures and First Field Tests

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rolf Seifert

2018-01-01

Full Text Available An innovative mobile sensor system for breath control in the exhaled air is introduced. In this paper, the application of alcohol control in the exhaled air is considered. This sensor system operates semiconducting gas sensor elements with respect to the application in a thermo-cyclic operation mode. This operation mode leads to so-called conductance-over-time-profiles (CTPs, which are fingerprints of the gas mixture under consideration and can be used for substance identification and concentration determination. Especially for the alcohol control in the exhaled air, ethanol is the leading gas component to be investigated. But, there are also other interfering gas components in the exhaled air, like H2 and acetone, which may influence the measurement results. Therefore, a ternary ethanol-H2-acetone gas mixture was investigated. The establishing of the mathematical calibration model and the data analysis was performed with a newly developed innovative calibration and evaluation procedure called ProSens 3.0. The analysis of ternary ethanol-H2-acetone gas samples with ProSens 3.0 shows a very good substance identification performance and a very good concentration determination of the leading ethanol component. The relative analysis errors for the leading component ethanol were in all considered samples less than 9 %. First field test performed with the sensor system AGaMon shows very promising results.

Global DNA methylation and oxidative stress biomarkers in workers exposed to metal oxide nanoparticles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liou, Saou-Hsing; Wu, Wei-Te; Liao, Hui-Yi [National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli County, Taiwan (China); Chen, Chao-Yu; Tsai, Cheng-Yen; Jung, Wei-Ting [Department of Chemistry, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan (China); Lee, Hui-Ling, E-mail: huilinglee3573@gmail.com [Department of Chemistry, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan (China)

2017-06-05

Highlights: • Global methylation and oxidative DNA damage levels in nanomaterial handling workers were assessed. • 8-isoprostane in exhaled breath condensate of workers exposed to nanoparticles was higher. • 8-OHdG was negatively correlated with global methylation. • Exposure to metal oxide nanoparticles may lead to global methylation and DNA oxidative damage. - Abstract: This is the first study to assess global methylation, oxidative DNA damage, and lipid peroxidation in workers with occupational exposure to metal oxide nanomaterials (NMs). Urinary and white blood cell (WBC) 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), and exhaled breath condensate (EBC) 8-isoprostane were measured as oxidative stress biomarkers. WBC global methylation was measured as an epigenetic alteration. Exposure to TiO{sub 2}, SiO{sub 2,} and indium tin oxide (ITO) resulted in significantly higher oxidative biomarkers such as urinary 8-OHdG and EBC 8-isoprostane. However, significantly higher WBC 8-OHdG and lower global methylation were only observed in ITO handling workers. Significant positive correlations were noted between WBC and urinary 8-OHdG (Spearman correlation r = 0.256, p = 0.003). Furthermore, a significant negative correlation was found between WBC 8-OHdG and global methylation (r = −0.272, p = 0.002). These results suggest that exposure to metal oxide NMs may lead to global methylation, DNA oxidative damage, and lipid peroxidation.

Fractal characters and hurst exponent of radon exhalation rate from uranium Tailings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Hanqiao; Tan Kaixuan; Li Chunguang; Lv Junwen; Liu Dong

2010-01-01

The uranium tailings radon exhalation is an important environmental problem. The change of the radon exhalation rate of uranium tailings with the time through laboratory experiments is measured, and the results show that the radon exhalation rate of the tailings change obviously with time in non-periodic oscillations. Applying fractal analysis to the radon exhalation rate time-series data by R/S method, the Hurst exponent of the entire time series data is 0.83, the fractal dimension is 1.17. Mobile Hurst exponent is between 0.5 and 0.8 in most cases. The Hurst exponent of the experiments in the later part are below 0.5. The exhalation rate of uranium tailings radon does not meet the long-term trend of random walk theory, the radon exhalation rate has long-term memory, but the short-term memory is not distinct. The radon exhalation from uranium tailings is a deterministic chaotic dynamics. (authors)

8-Isoprostane and leukotrienes in exhaled breath condensate in czech subjects with silicosis

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelclová, D.; Fenclová, Z.; Kačer, P.; Navrátil, Tomáš; Kuzma, Marek; Lebedová, J.; Klusáčková, P.

2007-01-01

Roč. 45, č. 6 (2007), s. 766-774 ISSN 0019-8366 Grant - others:GA MZd NR8107 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503; CEZ:AV0Z50200510 Keywords : silica * silicosis * 8-isoprostane * leukotrienes Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 0.792, year: 2007

A Negative Correlation Between Blood Glucose and Acetone Measured in Healthy and Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Patient Breath.

Science.gov (United States)

Rydosz, Artur

2015-07-01

Exhaled acetone analysis has long been recognized as a supplementary tool for diagnosis and monitoring diabetes, especially type 1 diabetes. It is essential, therefore to determine the relationship between exhaled acetone concentration and glucose in blood. Usually, a direct linear correlation between this both compounds has been expected. However, in some cases we can observe a reverse correlation. When blood glucose was increasing, breath acetone declined. The breath analysis as a supplementary tool for diagnosing and monitoring diabetes makes sense only in case of utilization of portable analyzers. This need has created a market for gas sensors. However, commercially available acetone gas sensors are developed for measuring samples at several tens part per million. The exhaled acetone concentration was measured using commercial acetone gas sensor (TGS 822, 823 Figaro, Arlington Heights, IL, USA Inc) with micropreconcentrator in low temperature cofired ceramics. The reference analyzer-mass spectrometry (HPR-20 QIC, Hiden Analytical, Warrington, UK) was used. Twenty-two healthy volunteers with no history of any respiratory disease participated in the research, as did 31 patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Respectively, 3 healthy volunteer and 5 type 1 diabetes mellitus subjects with reverse trend were selected. The linear fitting coefficient various from 0.1139 to 0.9573. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the correlation between blood glucose concentrations and under different conditions, for example, insulin levels, as well as correlate the results with clinical tests, for example, Hb1Ac. It is well known that the concentration of acetone is strongly influenced by diet, insulin treatment, and so on. Therefore, much more complex analysis with long-term measurements are required. Thus, presented results should be regarded as tentative, and validation studies with the analysis of clinical test and in a large number of patients, including control groups

Influence of geometry of thermal manikins on concentration distribution and personal exposure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Melikov, Arsen Krikor; Kaczmarczyk, Jan

2007-01-01

The analyses performed in this paper reveal that a breathing thermal manikin with realistic simulation of respiration including breathing cycle, pulmonary ventilation rate, frequency and breathing mode, gas concentration, humidity and temperature of exhaled air and human body shape and surface...... temperature is sensitive enough to perform reliable measurement of characteristics of air as inhaled by occupants. The temperature, humidity, and pollution concentration in the inhaled air can be measured accurately with a thermal manikin without breathing simulation if they are measured at the upper lip...... at a distance of simulation of breathing, especially of exhalation, is needed for studying the transport of exhaled air between occupants. A method...

Radon exhalation study in cements and other building materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, J.; Sharma, N.

2012-01-01

Radon is a radioactive inert gas, which is produced during the decay of radium, an element present in the naturally occurring uranium series. In the recent past, environmental scientists all over the world have been expressing great concern about the radiation hazard from radon and its short lived daughter products inside buildings. The radon concentration inside a building depends upon the radon exhalation from the building materials used for the construction and the soil underneath the building. In the present investigations, a comparative study for radon exhalation rate has been carried out in some Indian and Pakistani cements and other building materials being used locally such as sand, soil, bricks, marbles, CaCO 3 , POPs by using Track Etch Technique. The Pakistani cement with the trade name 'Elephant' shows the minimum mass exhalation rate while the Indian 'Birla White' cement has shown the maximum. Among the other building materials studied, CaCO 3 has shown the minimum, while local soil the maximum mass exhalation rate. Out of the fired clay bricks, roof tiles, floor tiles and different marbles, floor tiles have the minimum areal exhalation rate while roof tiles the maximum. (author)

The 14C-urea breath-test for the detection of gastric Campylobacter pylori infection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Surveyor, I.; Goodwin, C.S.; Mullan, B.P.; Geelhoed, E.; Warren, J.R.; Murray, R.N.; Waters, T.E.; Sanderson, C.R.

1989-01-01

Sixty-three patients who were undergoing endoscopy were studied. The radioactivity in exhaled breath which was sampled within five minutes of 14 C -urea administration was attributed to the presence of urease enzyme in mouth organisms and was discounted. The time-radioactivity curves for breath samples from five to 30 minutes after the administration of 14 C-urea gave an excellent separation between subjects with negative results of the examination of gastric-biopsy samples and patients with microbiological and histological evidence of infection with Campylobacter (C.) pylori. The area under the time-radioactivity curve at between five and 30 minutes after the administration of 14 C-urea in 24 patients with negative microbiological results was 6.9±4.4 area units; in 35 of 39 patients with positive microbiological results, this area was greater than 40 area units. Measured against the results of the microbiological examination of gastricbiopsy samples, the sensitivity of breath-testing was 90% and the specificity was 100%. Measured against the results of histological examination for the presence of C. pylori infection, breath-testing had a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 93%. A positive breath-test result also correlated well (P=0.0001) with the serological antibody test-result. The role of non-invasive tests - enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and 14 C-urea breath-testing - in the management of gastritis and peptic ulcer disease is discussed. We consider that the 14 C-urea breath-test has an important role in the noninvasive confirmation of gastric infection with C. pylori and in the follow-up of patients after treatment. 38 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab

Precise and real-time measurement of 3D tumor motion in lung due to breathing and heartbeat, measured during radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seppenwoolde, Yvette; Shirato, Hiroki; Kitamura, Kei; Shimizu, Shinichi; Herk, Marcel van; Lebesque, Joos V.; Miyasaka, Kazuo

2002-01-01

Purpose: In this work, three-dimensional (3D) motion of lung tumors during radiotherapy in real time was investigated. Understanding the behavior of tumor motion in lung tissue to model tumor movement is necessary for accurate (gated or breath-hold) radiotherapy or CT scanning. Methods: Twenty patients were included in this study. Before treatment, a 2-mm gold marker was implanted in or near the tumor. A real-time tumor tracking system using two fluoroscopy image processor units was installed in the treatment room. The 3D position of the implanted gold marker was determined by using real-time pattern recognition and a calibrated projection geometry. The linear accelerator was triggered to irradiate the tumor only when the gold marker was located within a certain volume. The system provided the coordinates of the gold marker during beam-on and beam-off time in all directions simultaneously, at a sample rate of 30 images per second. The recorded tumor motion was analyzed in terms of the amplitude and curvature of the tumor motion in three directions, the differences in breathing level during treatment, hysteresis (the difference between the inhalation and exhalation trajectory of the tumor), and the amplitude of tumor motion induced by cardiac motion. Results: The average amplitude of the tumor motion was greatest (12±2 mm [SD]) in the cranial-caudal direction for tumors situated in the lower lobes and not attached to rigid structures such as the chest wall or vertebrae. For the lateral and anterior-posterior directions, tumor motion was small both for upper- and lower-lobe tumors (2±1 mm). The time-averaged tumor position was closer to the exhale position, because the tumor spent more time in the exhalation than in the inhalation phase. The tumor motion was modeled as a sinusoidal movement with varying asymmetry. The tumor position in the exhale phase was more stable than the tumor position in the inhale phase during individual treatment fields. However, in many

Effect of exhalation exercise on trunk muscle activity and oswestry disability index of patients with chronic low back pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Jeong-Il; Jeong, Dae-Keun; Choi, Hyun

2016-06-01

[Purpose] This study investigated the effect of exhalation exercises on trunk muscle activity and Oswestry Disability Index by inducing trunk muscle activity through increasing intra-abdominal pressure and activating muscles, contributing to spinal stability. [Subjects and Methods] This intervention program included 20 male patients with chronic low back pain. A total of 10 subjects each were randomly assigned to an exhalation exercise group as the experimental group and a spinal stabilization exercise group as the control group. [Results] There were significant differences in the activities of the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, external oblique abdominal, and erector spinae muscles as well as in the Oswestry Disability Index within the experimental group. There were meaningful differences in the activities of the rectus abdominis, external oblique abdominal, and erector spinae muscles and in the Oswestry Disability Index within the control group. In addition, there was a meaningful intergroup difference in transverse abdominis muscle activity alone and in the Oswestry Disability Index. [Conclusion] The breathing exercise effectively increased muscle activity by training gross and fine motor muscles in the trunk. Moreover, it was verified as a very important element for strengthening body stability because it both released and prevented low back pain.

Analysis of breath, exhaled via the mouth and nose, and the air in the oral cavity

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Wang, T.; Pysanenko, A.; Dryahina, Kseniya; Španěl, Patrik; Smith, D.

2008-01-01

Roč. 2, - (2008), , 037013-1-13 ISSN 1752-7155 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA202/06/0776 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503 Keywords : analysis of breath * oral cavity * SIFT-MS Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry

Quartz-enhanced photo-acoustic spectroscopy for breath analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, Jan C.; Lamard, Laurent; Feng, Yuyang; Focant, Jeff-F.; Peremans, Andre; Lassen, Mikael

2017-03-01

An innovative and novel quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor for highly sensitive and selective breath gas analysis is introduced. The QEPAS sensor consists of two acoustically coupled micro- resonators (mR) with an off-axis 20 kHz quartz tuning fork (QTF). The complete acoustically coupled mR system is optimized based on finite element simulations and experimentally verified. Due to the very low fabrication costs the QEPAS sensor presents a clear breakthrough in the field of photoacoustic spectroscopy by introducing novel disposable gas chambers in order to avoid cleaning after each test. The QEPAS sensor is pumped resonantly by a nanosecond pulsed single-mode mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator (MIR OPO). Spectroscopic measurements of methane and methanol in the 3.1 μm to 3.7 μm wavelength region is conducted. Demonstrating a resolution bandwidth of 1 cm-1. An Allan deviation analysis shows that the detection limit at optimum integration time for the QEPAS sensor is 32 ppbv@190s for methane and that the background noise is solely due to the thermal noise of the QTF. Spectra of both individual molecules as well as mixtures of molecules were measured and analyzed. The molecules are representative of exhaled breath gasses that are bio-markers for medical diagnostics.

Real-time measurement of inhaled and exhaled cigarette smoke: Implications for dose

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McGrath, Conor; Warren, Nigel; Biggs, Philip; McAughey, John, E-mail: conor_mcgrath@bat.co [British American Tobacco, Group R and D Centre, Southampton, SO15 8TL (United Kingdom)

2009-02-01

Inhalation of tobacco smoke aerosol is a two-step process involving puffing followed by inhalation. Measured smoke deposition efficiencies in the lung (20-70%) are greater than expected for smoke particles of 150 -- 250 nm count median diameter (CMD). Various mechanisms have been put forward to explain this enhanced deposition pattern, including coagulation, hygroscopic growth, condensation and evaporation, changes in composition, or changes in inhalation behaviour. This paper represents one of a series of studies seeking to better quantify smoke chemistry, inhalation behaviour and cumulative particle growth. The studies have been conducted to better understand smoke dosimetry and links to disease as part of a wider programme defining risk and potential harm reduction. In this study, the average CMD of inhaled smoke was 160 nm while the average CMD of exhaled smoke was 239 nm with an average growth factor of 1.5.

Real-time measurement of inhaled and exhaled cigarette smoke: Implications for dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGrath, Conor; Warren, Nigel; Biggs, Philip; McAughey, John

2009-01-01

Inhalation of tobacco smoke aerosol is a two-step process involving puffing followed by inhalation. Measured smoke deposition efficiencies in the lung (20-70%) are greater than expected for smoke particles of 150 -- 250 nm count median diameter (CMD). Various mechanisms have been put forward to explain this enhanced deposition pattern, including coagulation, hygroscopic growth, condensation and evaporation, changes in composition, or changes in inhalation behaviour. This paper represents one of a series of studies seeking to better quantify smoke chemistry, inhalation behaviour and cumulative particle growth. The studies have been conducted to better understand smoke dosimetry and links to disease as part of a wider programme defining risk and potential harm reduction. In this study, the average CMD of inhaled smoke was 160 nm while the average CMD of exhaled smoke was 239 nm with an average growth factor of 1.5.

Postprandial changes in the exhalation of radon from the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rundo, J.; Markun, F.; Plondke, N.J.

1978-01-01

The exhalation of radon originally inhaled from the home environment and dissolved in body fluids and tissues has been studied serially for periods of several hours in six persons. The observation of a pronounced postprandial peak in the rate of exhalation of radon shows that the similar peak observed in the exhalation of radon produced from radium in vivo results from the flushing of a reservoir in soft tissue and not from a change in the fraction lost from bone

Radon exhalations of rock samples from the Muellenbach uranium test mine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keller, G.; Dudler, R.

1985-01-01

Radiation exposure of workers in underground mines with high U/Ra concentration is mostly due to inhalation of the short-lived radioactive decay products of the noble gas radon. Knowledge of the Rn-222 exhalation rates of walls and rocks as well as the contributing influencing parameters is therefore of interest for radiation protection purposes. Measurements showed that in the hours following shortfiring operations, the fresh dirt and the new walls had several times the exhalation rates of older dirt and walls. Measurements of exhalation rates on drill cores can help to assess exhalation for an adequate layout of the mine ventilation system. (orig./PW) [de

The sup 14 C-urea breath-test for the detection of gastric Campylobacter pylori infection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Surveyor, I; Goodwin, C S; Mullan, B P; Geelhoed, E; Warren, J R; Murray, R N; Waters, T E; Sanderson, C R [Royal Perth Hospital (Australia)

1989-10-16

Sixty-three patients who were undergoing endoscopy were studied. The radioactivity in exhaled breath which was sampled within five minutes of {sup 14}C -urea administration was attributed to the presence of urease enzyme in mouth organisms and was discounted. The time-radioactivity curves for breath samples from five to 30 minutes after the administration of {sup 14}C-urea gave an excellent separation between subjects with negative results of the examination of gastric-biopsy samples and patients with microbiological and histological evidence of infection with Campylobacter (C.) pylori. The area under the time-radioactivity curve at between five and 30 minutes after the administration of {sup 14}C-urea in 24 patients with negative microbiological results was 6.9{plus minus}4.4 area units; in 35 of 39 patients with positive microbiological results, this area was greater than 40 area units. Measured against the results of the microbiological examination of gastricbiopsy samples, the sensitivity of breath-testing was 90% and the specificity was 100%. Measured against the results of histological examination for the presence of C. pylori infection, breath-testing had a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 93%. A positive breath-test result also correlated well (P=0.0001) with the serological antibody test-result. The role of non-invasive tests - enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and {sup 14}C-urea breath-testing - in the management of gastritis and peptic ulcer disease is discussed. We consider that the {sup 14}C-urea breath-test has an important role in the noninvasive confirmation of gastric infection with C. pylori and in the follow-up of patients after treatment. 38 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.

Nonhuman primate breath volatile organic compounds associate with developmental programming and cardio-metabolic status.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Andrew C; Libardoni, Mark; Choudary, Ahsan; Misra, Biswapriya Biswavas; Lange, Kenneth; Bernal, John; Nijland, Mark; Li, Cun; Olivier, Michael; Nathanielsz, Peter W; Cox, Laura A

2018-03-29

Rodent and nonhuman primate (NHP) studies indicate that developmental programming by reduced perinatal nutrition negatively impacts life course cardio-metabolic health. We have developed a baboon model in which we feed control mothers (CON) ad libitum while nutrient restricted mothers are fed 70% of ad libitum global feed in pregnancy and lactation. Offspring of nutrient restricted mothers are intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) at term. By 3.5 years IUGR baboons showed signs of insulin resistance, indicating a pre-diabetic phenotype, in contrast to healthy CON offspring. We hypothesized that a novel breath analysis approach would provide markers of the altered cardio-metabolic state in a non-invasive manner. Here we assess whether exhaled breath volatile organic compounds (VOCs) collected from this unique cohort of juvenile baboons with documented cardio-metabolic dysfunction resulting from in utero programming can be detected from their breath signatures. Breath was collected from male and female CON and IUGR baboons at 4.8±0.2 years (human equivalent ~13 years). Breath VOCs were quantified using a two-dimensional gas chromatography mass spectrometer (2D GC-MS). Two-way ANOVA, on 76 biologically relevant VOCs identified 27 VOCs (p<0.05) with altered abundances between groups (sex, birthweight, and sex x birthweight). The 27 VOCs included 2-pentanone, 2-octanone, 2,5,5 trimethyl-1-hexene and 2,2-dimethyl-undecane, which have not previously been associated with cardio-metabolic disease. Unsupervised principal component analysis of these VOCs could discriminate the four defined clusters defining males, females, CON and IUGR. This study, which is the first to assess quantifiable breath signatures associated with cardio-metabolic programing for any model of IUGR, demonstrates the translational value of this unique model to identify metabolites of programmed cardio-metabolic dysfunction in breath signatures. Future studies are required to validate the

Influence of building materials process technology on radon exhalation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Fudong; Wang Chunhong; Liu Senlin; Ji Dong; Zhang Yonggui; Pan Ziqiang

2009-01-01

The building materials were produced through changing raw material ingredient, baking temperature, pressure difference between surface and interior of building material, grain diameter etc. Experiment indicates that change of raw material ingredient ratio can obviously influence the radon exhalation from building material, followed by baking temperature; and pressure difference does not have significant influence on radon exhalation. For the factory to produce shale-brick, the radon exhalation is relatively low under the condition that coal gangue accounts for 40%-50%, the grain diameter is less than 2 mm, the baking temperature is about 960 degree C or 1 020 degree C and the pressure difference is 85 kPa. (authors)

Determination of radon exhalation rates from tiles using active and passive techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Jarallah, M.I.; Abu-Jarad, F.; Fazal-ur-Rehman

2001-01-01

Measurements of radon exhalation rates for selected samples of tiles used in Saudi Arabia were carried out using active and passive measuring techniques. These samples were granite, marble and ceramic. In the active method, a PC-based radon gas analyzer with emanation container was used, while, in the passive method, PM-355 nuclear track detectors with the 'can technique' were applied for 180 days. A comparison of the exhalation rates measured by the two techniques showed a good linear correlation coefficient of 0.7. The granite samples showed an average radon exhalation rate of 0.7 Bq m -2 h -1 , which was higher than that of marble and ceramic by more than twofold. The radon exhalation rates measured by the 'can technique' showed a non-uniform exhalation from the surface of the same tile

Radon Exhalation from some Finishing Materials Frequently used in Syria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shweikani, R.; Raja, G.

2011-01-01

Building materials are one of the main radon sources in dwellings. Therefore, the determination of radon exhalation from these materials will help in prediction the existence of dwelling with potential radon risk. Ceramic tiles and marble samples were collected from Syrian local market. The correlation between radon exhalation from these materials and radium-226 content was studied. Results showed that there is no clear relation between radium content and radon exhalation rate, and the exhalation of radon did not exceed the permissible limits of American Environment Protection Agency (EPA). In addition, the additional annual dose from radon and gamma of the natural radioactivity in ceramic and marble when used as finishing materials in houses was also estimated and found to be not exceeding 20 μSv and 35 μSv from radon and gamma respectively. (author)

Radon exhalation from some Finishing Materials frequently used in Syria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shweikani, R.; Raja, G.

2009-02-01

Building materials are one of the main radon sources in dwellings. Therefore, the determination of radon exhalation from these materials will help in prediction the existence of dwelling with potential radon risk. Ceramic tiles and marble samples were collected from Syrian local market. The correlation between radon exhalation from these materials and radium-226 content were studied. Results showed that there is no clear relation between radium content and radon exhalation rate, and the exhalation of radon did not exceed the permissible limits of American Environment Protection Agency (EPA). In addition, the additional annual dose from radon and gamma of the natural radioactivity in ceramic and marble when used as finishing materials in houses were also estimated and found to be not exceeding 20 μSv and μ35 Sv from radon and gamma respectively. (author)

Studying radon exhalation rates variability from phosphogypsum piles in the SW of Spain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

López-Coto, I., E-mail: israel.lopez@dfa.uhu.es [Dpto. Física Aplicada, Facultad CC. Experimentales, University of Huelva, Campus de El Carmen s/n, 21007 Huelva (Spain); Mas, J.L. [Dpto. Física Aplicada I. Escuela Politécnica Superior, University of Sevilla, C/Virgen de Africa 7, 41012 Sevilla (Spain); Vargas, A. [Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Instituto de Técnicas Energéticas, Campus Sud Edificio ETSEIB, Planta 0, Pabellón C, Av. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Bolívar, J.P. [Dpto. Física Aplicada, Facultad CC. Experimentales, University of Huelva, Campus de El Carmen s/n, 21007 Huelva (Spain)

2014-09-15

Highlights: • Variability of radon exhalation rates from PG piles has been studied using numerical simulation supported by experimental data. • Most relevant parameters controlling the exhalation rate are radon potential and moisture saturation. • Piling up the waste increasing the height instead of the surface allows the reduction of the exhalation rate. • A proposed cover here is expected to allow exhalation rates reductions up to 95%. - Abstract: Nearly 1.0 × 10{sup 8} tonnes of phosphogypsum were accumulated during last 50 years on a 1200 ha disposal site near Huelva town (SW of Spain). Previous measurements of exhalation rates offered very variable values, in such a way that a worst case scenario could not be established. Here, new experimental data coupled to numerical simulations show that increasing the moisture contents or the temperature reduces the exhalation rate whilst increasing the radon potential or porosity has the contrary effect. Once the relative effects are compared, it can be drawn that the most relevant parameters controlling the exhalation rate are radon potential (product of emanation factor by {sup 226}Ra concentration) and moisture saturation of PG. From wastes management point of view, it can be concluded that piling up the waste increasing the height instead of the surface allows the reduction of the exhalation rate. Furthermore, a proposed cover here is expected to allow exhalation rates reductions up to 95%. We established that the worst case scenario corresponds to a situation of extremely dry winter. Under these conditions, the radon exhalation rate (0.508 Bq m{sup −2} s{sup −1}) would be below though close to the upper limit established by U.S.E.P.A. for inactive phopsphogypsum piles (0.722 Bq m{sup −2} s{sup −1})

Suggestions for inclulsion of radon exhalation control target in building materials radioactivity standards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Fudong; Liu Senlin; Pan Ziqiang; Zhang Yonggui

2010-01-01

The specific-activity and radon exhalation rate from 26 building material samples from different areas were measured with high pure germanium (HPGe) gamma spectrometer and activated carbon cartridge. It is shown that the radium content is not completely relevant to radon exhalation rate from some building material. The existing national standards on 'The Limit of Radionuclides in Building Materials' (GB 6566-2001) only present internal exposure index as control target but not for radon exhalation rate; in fact, the radon exhalation rate from building materials is closely nearly related to indoor radon concentration. So we suggest that the radon exhalation control target should be included in the national standards on 'The Limit of Radionuclides in Building Materials'. (authors)

Determination of radon exhalation rates from tiles using active and passive techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Jarallah, M.I. E-mail: mibrahim@kfupm.edu.sa; Abu-Jarad, F.; Fazal-ur-Rehman

2001-06-01

Measurements of radon exhalation rates for selected samples of tiles used in Saudi Arabia were carried out using active and passive measuring techniques. These samples were granite, marble and ceramic. In the active method, a PC-based radon gas analyzer with emanation container was used, while, in the passive method, PM-355 nuclear track detectors with the 'can technique' were applied for 180 days. A comparison of the exhalation rates measured by the two techniques showed a good linear correlation coefficient of 0.7. The granite samples showed an average radon exhalation rate of 0.7 Bq m{sup -2} h{sup -1}, which was higher than that of marble and ceramic by more than twofold. The radon exhalation rates measured by the 'can technique' showed a non-uniform exhalation from the surface of the same tile.

Applications of Hadamard transform-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to the detection of acetone in healthy human and diabetes mellitus patient breath.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Gang-Ting; Yang, Chien-Lin; Lin, Cheng-Huang; Chen, Chien-Chung; Shih, Chung-Hung

2014-03-01

The Hadamard transform-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HT-GC/MS) technique was successfully employed to detect acetone, a biomarker for diabetes mellitus (DM) prediction, in human breath. Samples of exhaled breath were collected from four DM patients (one type-I and three type-II) and eight volunteers (nondiabetic healthy subjects), respectively. The gas samples, without any pretreatment, were simultaneously injected into a GC column through a Hadamard-injector based on Hadamard codes. Under optimized conditions, when cyclic S-matrix orders of 255, 1023 and 2047 were used, the S/N ratios of the acetone signals were substantially improved by 8.0-, 16.0- and 22.6-fold, respectively; these improvements are in good agreement with theoretically calculated values. We found that the breath acetone concentration levels in the four DM patients and the eight volunteers ranged from 1 to 10 ppmv and 0.1 to 1 ppmv, respectively. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The influence of thoron on measurement results of radon exhalation rate

CERN Document Server

Xiao De Tao; Ling Qiu; Leung, J K C

2002-01-01

Because of thoron exhalation, the measurement results of radon exhalation rate using a local still method is usually larger than the true value of radon flux rate of the monitored material surface. The influence of sup 2 sup 1 sup 6 Po(ThA) on radon exhalation rate can be eliminated for sensitive radon monitors. Theoretical evaluations of the influence of sup 2 sup 1 sup 2 Bi(ThC) and sup 2 sup 1 sup 2 Po(ThC')on radon exhalation rate are carried out in a sampler with diameter of 188 mm, and height of 125 mm, and supplied electrostatic field inside (generated by high voltage and electret) under following conditions: the sampling time are 1, 2, 3 h, respectively, thoron exhalation rate is 100 times of radon's. The calculation results indicate that the measurement results of radon flux rate are possibly 35.5% larger than true value due to the influence of thoron for fast and multifunctional radon monitors with electret, high voltage, respectively and using CR-39 SSNTD as detector, but this influence is negligib...

Multispecies breath analysis faster than a single respiratory cycle by optical-feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Ventrillard-Courtillot, Irene; Gonthiez, Thierry; Clerici, Christine; Romanini, Daniel

2009-11-01

We demonstrate a first application, of optical-feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OF-CEAS) to breath analysis in a medical environment. Noninvasive monitoring of trace species in exhaled air was performed simultaneous to spirometric measurements on patients at Bichat Hospital (Paris). The high selectivity of the OF-CEAS spectrometer and a time response of 0.3 s (limited by sample flow rate) allowed following the evolution of carbon monoxide and methane concentrations during individual respiratory cycles, and resolving variations among different ventilatory patterns. The minimum detectable absorption on this time scale is about 3×10-10 cm-1. At the working wavelength of the instrument (2.326 μm), this translates to concentration detection limits of ~1 ppbv (45 picomolar, or ~1.25 μg/m3) for CO and 25 ppbv for CH4, well below concentration values found in exhaled air. This same instrument is also able to provide measurement of NH3 concentrations with a detection limit of ~10 ppbv however, at present, memory effects do not allow its measurement on fast time scales.

Quantification of methane in humid air and exhaled breath using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Dryahina, Kseniya; Smith, D.; Španěl, Patrik

2010-01-01

Roč. 24, č. 9 (2010), s. 1296-1304 ISSN 0951-4198 R&D Projects: GA ČR GP203/09/P172; GA ČR GA202/09/0800 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503 Keywords : mass spectrometry * SIFT-MS * breath Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 2.846, year: 2010

Leukotrienes and 8-isoprostane in exhaled breath condensate in bronchoprovocation tests with occupational allergens

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Klusáčková, P.; Lebedová, J.; Kačer, P.; Kuzma, Marek; Brabec, Marek; Pelclová, D.; Fenclová, Z.; Navrátil, Tomáš

2008-01-01

Roč. 78, 4-5 (2008), s. 281-292 ISSN 0952-3278 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50200510; CEZ:AV0Z10300504; CEZ:AV0Z40400503 Keywords : occupational allergens * leukotrienes * 8-isoprostane Subject RIV: CC - Organic Chemistry Impact factor: 1.366, year: 2008

Exhaled nitric oxide in paediatric asthma and cystic fibrosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundberg, J O; Nordvall, S L; Weitzberg, E; Kollberg, H; Alving, K

1996-01-01

Nitric oxide (NO) is present in exhaled air of humans. This NO is mostly produced in the upper airways, whereas basal NO excretion in the lower airways is low. Children with Kartagener's syndrome have an almost total lack of NO in nasally derived air, whereas adult asthmatics have increased NO in orally exhaled air. NO excretion was measured in the nasal cavity and in orally exhaled air in 19 healthy children, in 36 age matched subjects with asthma, and in eight children with cystic fibrosis. NO levels in orally exhaled air were similar in controls and in children with cystic fibrosis, at 4.8 (SD 1.2) v 5.8 (0.8) parts per billion (ppb), but were increased in asthmatic children who were untreated or were being treated only with low doses of inhaled steroids (13.8 (2.5) ppb). Nasal NO levels were reduced by about 70% in children with cystic fibrosis compared to controls and asthmatics. Measurements of airway NO release in different parts of the airways may be useful in non-invasive diagnosis and monitoring of inflammatory airway diseases. PMID:8984919

Sensory evaluation and chemical analysis of exhaled and dermally emitted bioeffluents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tsushima, S.; Wargocki, Pawel; Tanabe, S.

2018-01-01

Conditions in which exhaled and dermally emitted bioeffluents could be sampled separately or together (whole-body emission) were created. Five lightly dressed males exhaled the air through a mask to another, identical chamber or without a mask to the chamber in which they were sitting; the outdoor......) was less acceptable, and the odor intensity was higher than when only exhaled bioeffluents were present. The presence or absence of exhaled bioeffluents in the unoccupied chamber made no significant difference to sensory assessments. At 28°C and with ozone present, the odor intensity increased and the PAQ...... was less acceptable in the chambers with whole-body bioeffluents. The concentrations of nonanal, decanal, geranylacetone, and 6-MHO were higher when dermally emitted bioeffluents were present; they increased further when ozone was present. The concentration of squalene then decreased and increased again...

Exhalation velocity of radon-222 of Dutch building materials and the influence of paint systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dijk, W. van; Jong, P. de

1989-02-01

In order to achieve a better insight concerning the source terms of radon in the Dutch dwelling in the framework of the RENA-programme an investigation has been performed into the exhalation velocity of radon-222 from building materials. From this investigation it turned out that the ventilation factor does not have any influence upon the exhalation velocity, neither an influence of alteration of air pressure could be demonstrated. The influence of air humidity upon the exhalation velocity showed a twofold picture; for gypsum a linear increase of the exhalation velocity with vapour pressure was found, while for concrete a linear decrease with vapour pressure was observed. Further it has been investigated in how far paint systems diminish the exhalation velocity of the Rn-222 from gypsum and concrete. Acryl paints, mostly used in the Dutch dwelling, did not show a decrease of the exhalation velocity and structure paints did even cause an increase of the exhalation velocity. Other types of paint based on chlorous rubber, epoxy resins and poly-urethane, in contrast, showed a clear reduction. From these those based on poly-urethane showed the largest reduction (60-75%) at a double sided treatment of the wall. With the help of a mathematical modelling of the exhalation estimations have been made of the exhalation velocity of Rn-222 at single sided treatment of a wall and for the exhalation velocity of Rn-220. For the fore mentioned poly-urethane-paints this yelds, at an estimate, a reduction of respectively 90-95% and 100%. (author). 40 refs.; 15 figs.; 8 tabs

Increased ethane exhalation, an in vivo index of lipid peroxidation, in alcohol-abusers.

Science.gov (United States)

Lettéron, P; Duchatelle, V; Berson, A; Fromenty, B; Fisch, C; Degott, C; Benhamou, J P; Pessayre, D

1993-01-01

Ethane exhalation was measured in 42 control subjects, 52 patients with various non-alcoholic liver diseases, and 89 alcohol abusers who had been admitted to hospital for alcohol withdrawal and assessment of liver disease (six with normal liver tests, 10 with steatosis with or without fibrosis, six with alcoholic hepatitis, 29 with cirrhosis, 34 with both cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis, and four with both cirrhosis and a hepatocellular carcinoma). Ethane exhalation was similar in control subjects and in patients with non-alcoholic liver diseases, but was five times higher in alcohol abusers. Ethane exhalation in alcohol abusers was significantly, but very weakly, correlated with the daily ethanol intake before hospital admission, and the histological score for steatosis, but not with the inflammation or alcoholic hepatitis scores. Ethane exhalation was inversely correlated with the duration of abstinence before the test. In nine alcoholic patients, the exhalation of ethane was measured repeatedly, and showed slow improvement during abstinence. Ethane exhalation was significantly but weakly correlated with the Pugh's score in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. It is concluded that the mean ethane exhalation is increased in alcohol abusers. One of the possible mechanisms may be the presence of oxidizable fat in the liver. The weak correlation with the Pugh's score is consistent with the contribution of many other factors in the progression to severe liver disease. PMID:8472992

Noninvasive measurement of mean alveolar carbon dioxide tension and Bohr's dead space during tidal breathing.

Science.gov (United States)

Koulouris, N G; Latsi, P; Dimitroulis, J; Jordanoglou, B; Gaga, M; Jordanoglou, J

2001-06-01

The lack of methodology for measuring the alveolar carbon dioxide tension (PA,CO2) has forced investigators to make several assumptions, such as that PA,CO2 is equal to end-tidal (PET,CO2) and arterial CO2 tension (Pa,CO2). The present study measured the mean PA,CO2 and Bohr's dead space ratio (Bohr's dead space/tidal volume (VD,Bohr/VT)) during tidal breathing. The method used is a new, simple and noninvasive technique, based on the analysis of the expired CO2 volume per breath (VCO2) versus the exhaled VT. This curve was analysed in 21 normal, healthy subjects and 35 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients breathing tidally through a mouthpiece apparatus in the sitting position. It is shown that: 1) PA,CO2 is similar to Pa,CO2 in normal subjects, whilst it is significantly lower than Pa,CO2 in COPD patients; 2) PA,CO2 is significantly higher than PET,CO2 in all subjects, especially in COPD patients; 3) VD,Bohr/VT is increased in COPD patients as compared to normal subjects; and 4) VD,Bohr/VT is lower than the "physiological" dead space ratio (VD,phys/VT) in COPD patients. It is concluded that the expired carbon dioxide versus tidal volume curve is a useful tool for research and clinical work, because it permits the noninvasive and accurate measurement of Bohr's dead space and mean alveolar carbon dioxide tension accurately during spontaneous breathing.

The effect of various breathing exercises (pranayama in patients with bronchial asthma of mild to moderate severity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saxena Tarun

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Background/Aim: The incidence of bronchial asthma is on increase. Chemotherapy is helpful during early course of the disease, but later on morbidity and mortality increases. The efficacy of yoga therapy though appreciated is yet to be defined and modified. Aim: To study the effect of breathing exercises ( pranayama in patients with bronchial asthma of mild to moderate severity. Materials and Methods: Fifty cases of bronchial asthma (Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1 > 70% were studied for 12 weeks. Patients were allocated to two groups: group A and group B (control group. Patients in group A were treated with breathing exercises (deep breathing, Brahmari , and Omkara , etc. for 20 minutes twice daily for a period of 12 weeks. Patients were trained to perform Omkara at high pitch (forceful with prolonged exhalation as compared to normal Omkara . Group B was treated with meditation for 20 minutes twice daily for a period of 12 weeks. Subjective assessment, FEV1%, and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR were done in each case initially and after 12 weeks. Results: After 12 weeks, group A subjects had significant improvement in symptoms, FEV1, and PEFR as compared to group B subjects. Conclusion: Breathing exercises ( pranayama , mainly expiratory exercises, improved lung function subjectively and objectively and should be regular part of therapy.

Exposure of healthy subjects with emissions from a gas metal arc welding process: part 3--biological effect markers and lung function.

Science.gov (United States)

Brand, P; Bischof, K; Siry, L; Bertram, J; Schettgen, T; Reisgen, U; Kraus, T; Gube, M

2013-01-01

Metal active gas welding (MAG) is a widely-used welding technique resulting in high emissions of welding fume particles. This study investigated whether short-term exposure to these fume particles results in changes in lung function and early stages of inflammatory reactions. Twelve healthy, young male subjects were exposed to MAG fumes for 6 h with three different exposure concentrations in a three-fold cross-over study design. Exposure was performed in the "Aachen Workplace Simulation Laboratory" under controlled conditions with constant fume concentration. Fume concentrations were 0, 1, and 2.5 mg m(-3) in randomized order. Before and after each exposure, spirometry, and impulse oscillometry were performed and breath condensate samples were collected in order to quantify inflammatory markers like Nitrate, Nitrite, Nitrotyrosine, Hydroxyprolin and Malondialdehyde. A significant dependency on the exposure concentration could not be established for any of the endpoint parameters. In healthy, young subjects neither changes in spirometry nor changes in inflammatory markers measured in exhaled breath condensate could be detected after short-term exposure.

Further Development of an Exhaled microRNA Biomarker of Lung Cancer Risk

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-01

AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-16-1-0328 TITLE: Further Development of an Exhaled microRNA Biomarker of Lung Cancer Risk PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Dr...4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Further Development of an Exhaled microRNA Biomarker of Lung Cancer Risk 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH 16-1-0328 5c. PROGRAM...devise a non-invasive airway based exhaled microRNA metric for lung cancer risk, initial work to be tested in a case control study. We expanded the

Application of the can technique and radon gas analyzer for radon exhalation measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fazal-ur-Rehman E-mail: fazalr@kfupm.edu.sa; Al-Jarallah, M.I.; Musazay, M.S.; Abu-Jarad, F

2003-12-01

A passive 'can technique' and an active radon gas analyzer with an emanation container were applied for radon exhalation rate measurements from different construction materials, viz. five marble seven ceramic and 100 granite tiles used in Saudi Arabia. The marble and ceramic tiles did not show detectable radon exhalation using the active radon gas analyzer system. However the granite tiles showed relatively high radon exhalations, indicating a relatively high uranium content. A comparison of the radon exhalation rates measured by the two techniques showed a linear correlation coefficient of 0.57. The radon exhalation rates from the granites varied from 0.02 to 6.58 Bq m{sup -2} h{sup -1} with an average of 1.35{+-}1.40 Bq m{sup -2} h{sup -1}. The geometric mean and the geometric standard deviation of the frequency distribution were found to be 0.80 and 3.1, respectively. The track density found on the nuclear track detectors in the can technique exposed to the granites, having high exhalation rates, varied linearly with exposure time with a linear correlation coefficient of 0.99. This experimental finding agrees with the theoretical prediction. The can technique showed sensitivity to low radon exhalation rates from ceramic, marble and some granite over a period of 2 months, which were not detectable by the active radon gas analyzer system. The reproducibility of data with both measuring techniques was found to be within a 7% deviation.

Radon exhalation rate on the Sivrice (Elazig ) fault zone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahin, S.; Kuluoeztuerk, M. F.; Dogru, M.

2009-01-01

Four radon monitoring stations were built on the Sivrice Fault Zone which is a part of the East Anatolian Fault System that one of the very important two fault systems which tends to produce earthquake in Turkey. Radon exhalation rate were analyzed in the soil and water samples which collected around the stations. Radon exhalation rate in the soil and water samples were determined by using CR-39 that it is plastic detector.

Exhalation of radon and thoron from phosphogypsum uses as building material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vanmarcke, H.

1996-01-01

The radioactive properties of two types of phosphogypsum, were determined. Gypsum plates with different thickness were produced. The 226 Ra and 232 Th concentrations were measured by means of high resolution gamma spectrometry. The results are for type 1 226 Ra: 75 Bq/kg and 232 Th 230 Bq/kg and for type 2 226 Ra: 155 Bq/kg and 232 Th: 160 Bq/kg. The radon ( 222 Rn) exhalation rate was evaluated by closing the plates in airtight barrels and measuring the radon concentration. The exhalation rate of type 1 is 1.2 10-5 Bq/(kg s) and type 2 4.7 10-5 Bq/(kg s). In combination with the 226 Ra concentration an emanating fraction of respectively 7.6% and 14% is obtained. The 222 Rn (thoron) exhalation of the plates was determined by measuring the concentration of the decay products in a chamber of 1 m 3 with normal aerosol concentrations. The exhalation rate was found to be independent of the thickness of the plates, as expected from the short half-life of 220 Rn. Covering the entire surface of the plates with two layers of a common Latex paint decreased the thoron exhalation by a factor of 10 to 20. The laboratory results for the radon and thoron exhalation were converted using realistic assumptions for a room. The contribution of phosphogypsum to the average radon concentration in a room is found to be about 1 Bq/m 3 for type 1 and 4 Bq/m 3 for type 2 resulting in an annual effective dose of the order of 0.1 mSv/year. The contribution to the effective dose from the thoron exhalation is much greater, namely, 1.8 mSv/year for type I and 0.9 mSv/year for type 2. Painting the gypsum lowers the thoron dose by a factor of 10 to 20 making the thoron dose comparable to that of radon. (author)

Intermittent aerosol delivery to the lungs during high-flow nasal cannula therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Golshahi, Laleh; Longest, P Worth; Azimi, Mandana; Syed, Aamer; Hindle, Michael

2014-10-01

Use of submicrometer particles combined with condensational growth techniques has been proposed to reduce drug losses within components of high-flow nasal cannula therapy systems and to enhance the dose reaching the lower respiratory tract. These methods have been evaluated using continuous inhalation flow rather than realistic inhalation/exhalation breathing cycles. The goal of this study was to evaluate in vitro aerosol drug delivery using condensational growth techniques during high-flow nasal cannula therapy using realistic breathing profiles and incorporating intermittent aerosol delivery techniques. A mixer-heater combined with a vibrating mesh nebulizer was used to generate a submicrometer aerosol using a formulation of 0.2% albuterol sulfate and 0.2% sodium chloride in water. Delivery efficiency of the aerosol for 1 min through a nasal cannula was considered using an intermittent delivery regime with aerosol being emitted for either the entire inhalation time (2 s) or half of the inhalation period (1 s) and compared with continuous delivery. The deposition of the aerosol was evaluated in the nasal delivery components (ventilator tubing and cannula) and an in vitro adult nose-mouth-throat (NMT) model using 3 realistic breathing profiles. Significant improvements in dose delivered to the exit of the NMT model (ex-NMT) were observed for both condensational growth methods using intermittent aerosol delivery compared with continuous delivery, and increasing the tidal volume was found useful. The combination of the largest tidal volume with the shortest intermittent delivery time resulted in the lowest respiration losses and the highest ex-NMT delivered dose. Intermittent aerosol delivery using realistic breathing profiles of submicrometer condensational growth aerosols was found to be efficient in delivering nasally administered drugs in an in vitro airway model. Copyright © 2014 by Daedalus Enterprises.

Exhaled nitric oxide concentration in patients after heart transplantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Nadziakiewicz, P; Knapik, P; Zakliczyński, M; Zembala, M; Urbańska, E; Pacholewicz, J

2007-11-01

Nitric oxide (NO) is present in exhaled air in humans and its level may decrease in heart diseases. In the present study we prospectively investigated how heart transplantation treated with oral immunosuppresive drugs based on ciclosporine A influences the exhaled NO concentration (exNO). The study was performed in 17 patients after heart transplantation in various time after procedure and 15 nonsmoking healthy volunteers as a control group. Patients after heart transplantation were free of clinical signs of rejection. End-tidal concentration of exNO was measured by the use of a chemiluminescence method. We found no statistically significant differences in the exNO level between patients after heart transplantation and healthy controls (6.81+/-2.70 part per billion (ppb) in the transplant group vs. 6.01+/-3.43 ppb in the control group). We conclude that heart transplantation and immunosuppresive therapy do not influence the exhaled NO concentration.

Radium and radon exhalation rate in soil samples of Hassan district of South Karnataka, India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jagadeesha, B.G.; Narayana, Y.

2016-01-01

The radon exhalation rate was measured in 32 soil samples collected from Hassan district of South Karnataka. Radon exhalation rate of soil samples was measured using can technique. The results show variation of radon exhalation rate with radium content of the soil samples. A strong correlation was observed between effective radium content and radon exhalation rate. In the present work, an attempt was made to assess the levels of radon in the environment of Hassan. Radon activities were found to vary from 2.25±0.55 to 270.85±19.16 Bq m"-"3 and effective radium contents vary from 12.06±2.98 to 1449.56±102.58 mBq kg"-"1. Surface exhalation rates of radon vary from 1.55±0.47 to 186.43±18.57 mBq m"-"2 h"-"1, and mass exhalation rates of radon vary from 0.312±0.07 to 37.46±2.65 mBq kg"-"1 h"-"1. (authors)

An Acoustic-Based Method to Detect and Quantify the Effect of Exhalation into a Dry Powder Inhaler.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Martin S; Seheult, Jansen N; O'Connell, Peter; D'Arcy, Shona; Ehrhardt, Carsten; Healy, Anne Marie; Costello, Richard W; Reilly, Richard B

2015-08-01

Dry powder inhaler (DPI) users frequently exhale into their inhaler mouthpiece before the inhalation step. This error in technique compromises the integrity of the drug and results in poor bronchodilation. This study investigated the effect of four exhalation factors (exhalation flow rate, distance from mouth to inhaler, exhalation duration, and relative air humidity) on dry powder dose delivery. Given that acoustic energy can be related to the factors associated with exhalation sounds, we then aimed to develop a method of identifying and quantifying this critical inhaler technique error using acoustic based methods. An in vitro test rig was developed to simulate this critical error. The effect of the four factors on subsequent drug delivery were investigated using multivariate regression models. In a further study we then used an acoustic monitoring device to unobtrusively record the sounds 22 asthmatic patients made whilst using a Diskus(™) DPI. Acoustic energy was employed to automatically detect and analyze exhalation events in the audio files. All exhalation factors had a statistically significant effect on drug delivery (pacoustic method detected exhalations with an accuracy of 89.1%. We were able to classify exhalations occurring 5 cm or less in the direction of the inhaler mouthpiece or recording device with a sensitivity of 72.2% and specificity of 85.7%. Exhaling into a DPI has a significant detrimental effect. Acoustic based methods can be employed to objectively detect and analyze exhalations during inhaler use, thus providing a method of remotely monitoring inhaler technique and providing personalized inhaler technique feedback.

Exhaled nitric oxide collected with two different mouthpieces: a study in asthmatic patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.S. Leme

2002-10-01

Full Text Available Techniques for collecting exhaled nitric oxide (ENO recommend the use of antibacterial filters of 0.3 µm. The aim of the present study was to compare the measurements of ENO obtained with two different filtering devices. Air samples from 17 asthmatic and 17 non-asthmatic subjects were collected by a recommended off-line technique using two different mouthpieces: 1 the Sievers disposable tool (A under a breathing pressure of 18 cmH2O, and 2 a mouthpiece containing a HEPA filter (B under a breathing pressure of 12 cmH2O. The nitric oxide samples were collected into an impermeable reservoir bag. Values for ENO were compared using two-way repeated measures ANOVA followed by the Tukey test. Agreement was assessed by Bland-Altman analysis. ENO values obtained with mouthpieces A and B were comparable for asthmatic (mean ± SEM, 42.9 ± 6.9 vs 43.3 ± 6.6 ppb and non-asthmatic (13.3 ± 1.3 vs 13.7 ± 1.1 ppb subjects. There was a significant difference in ENO between asthmatics and non-asthmatics using either mouthpiece A (P<0.001 or B (P<0.001. There was a positive correlation between mouthpiece A and mouthpiece B for both groups. The Bland-Altman limits of agreement were considered to be acceptable. Mouthpiece B was less expensive than A, and these data show that it can be used without compromising the result. Our data confirm reports of higher ENO values in the presence of airway inflammation.

Change of Exhaled Acetone Concentration in a Diabetic Patient with Acute Decompensated Heart Failure.

Science.gov (United States)

Yokokawa, Tetsuro; Ichijo, Yasuhiro; Houtsuki, Yu; Matsumoto, Yoshiyuki; Oikawa, Masayoshi; Yoshihisa, Akiomi; Sugimoto, Koichi; Nakazato, Kazuhiko; Suzuki, Hitoshi; Saitoh, Shu-Ichi; Shimouchi, Akito; Takeishi, Yasuchika

2017-10-21

In heart failure patients, exhaled acetone concentration, a noninvasive biomarker, is increased according to heart failure severity. Moreover, exhaled acetone concentration is also known to be affected by diabetes mellitus. However, there have been no reports on exhaled acetone concentration in heart failure patients with diabetes mellitus. A 77-year old man was admitted to our hospital with acute decompensated heart failure and atrioventricular block. He had controlled diabetes mellitus under insulin treatment with hemoglobin A1c of 6.5%. He underwent treatment of diuretics and permanent pacemaker implantation. His condition improved and he was discharged at Day 12. Due to the heart failure improvement, his levels of exhaled acetone concentration decreased from 1.623 ppm at admission to 0.664 ppm at discharge. This is the first report to reveal a change of exhaled acetone concentration in a diabetic patient with acute decompensated heart failure.

Validation of exhaled volatile organic compounds analysis using electronic nose as index of COPD severity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Finamore P

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Panaiotis Finamore,1 Claudio Pedone,1 Simone Scarlata,1 Alessandra Di Paolo,1 Simone Grasso,2 Marco Santonico,2 Giorgio Pennazza,2 Raffaele Antonelli Incalzi1 1Unit of Geriatrics, Campus Bio-Medico di Roma University, Rome, Italy; 2Unit of Electronics for Sensor Systems, Campus Bio-Medico di Roma University, Rome, Italy Aim: Six-minute walking test distance (6MWD and body mass index, obstruction, dyspnea and exercise (BODE index are measures of functional status in COPD patients, but require space, time and patient’s compliance. Exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs analysis via electronic nose is a quick and easy method that has already been used to discriminate COPD phenotypes. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether VOCs analysis can predict functional status and its variation over time in COPD patients.Methods: A monocentric prospective study with 1 year of follow-up was carried out. All patients underwent pulmonary function tests, arterial gas analysis, bioimpedance analysis, 6-minute walking test, and VOCs collection. Exhaled breath was collected with Pneumopipe® and analyzed using BIONOTE electronic nose. Outcomes prediction was performed by k-fold cross-validated partial least square discriminant analysis: accuracy, sensitivity and specificity as well as Cohen’s kappa for agreement were calculated.Results: We enrolled 63 patients, 60.3% men, with a mean age of 71 (SD: 8 years, median BODE index of 1 (interquartile range: 0–3 and mean 6MWD normalized by squared height (n6MWD of 133.5 (SD: 42 m/m2. The BIONOTE predicted baseline BODE score (dichotomized as BODE score <3 or ≥3 with an accuracy of 86% and quartiles of n6MWD with an accuracy of 79%. n6MWD decline more than the median value after 1 year was predicted with an accuracy of 86% by BIONOTE, 52% by Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD class and 78% by combined BIONOTE and GOLD class.Conclusion: Exhaled VOCs analysis identifies classes of BODE

The effects of weekly augmentation therapy in patients with PiZZ α1-antitrypsin deficiency

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Schmid ST

2012-09-01

Full Text Available ST Schmid,1 J Koepke,1 M Dresel,1 A Hattesohl,1 E Frenzel,2 J Perez,3 DA Lomas,4 E Miranda,5 T Greulich,1 S Noeske,1 M Wencker,6 H Teschler,6 C Vogelmeier,1 S Janciauskiene,2,* AR Koczulla1,*1Department of Internal Medicine, Division for Pulmonary Diseases, University Hospital Marburg, Marburg, Germany; 2Department of Respiratory Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; 3Department of Cellular Biology, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain; 4Department of Medicine, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; 5Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Istituto Pasteur – Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy; 6Department of Pneumology, West German Lung Clinic, Essen University Hospital, Essen, Germany*These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: The major concept behind augmentation therapy with human α1-antitrypsin (AAT is to raise the levels of AAT in patients with protease inhibitor phenotype ZZ (Glu342Lys-inherited AAT deficiency and to protect lung tissues from proteolysis and progression of emphysema.Objective: To evaluate the short-term effects of augmentation therapy (Prolastin® on plasma levels of AAT, C-reactive protein, and chemokines/cytokines.Materials and methods: Serum and exhaled breath condensate were collected from individuals with protease inhibitor phenotype ZZ AAT deficiency-related emphysema (n = 12 on the first, third, and seventh day after the infusion of intravenous Prolastin. Concentrations of total and polymeric AAT, interleukin-8 (IL-8, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, vascular endothelial growth factor, and C-reactive protein were determined. Blood neutrophils and primary epithelial cells were also exposed to Prolastin (1 mg/mL.Results: There were significant fluctuations in serum (but not in exhaled breath condensate levels of AAT polymers, IL-8, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, IL

Human exhaled air energy harvesting with specific reference to PVDF film

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Manisha Rajesh Mhetre

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Spirometer is a medical equipment used to measure lung capacity of a human being. It leads to diagnosis of several diseases. The researchers worked on harvesting energy from human exhalation while carrying out measurements using spirometer. A prototype has been developed using piezoelectric material i.e. PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride film as sensor. This paper presents the methodology and experimentation carried out for exhaled air energy harvesting using PVDF film. Experimental results obtained are encouraging. Measurements are also carried out on various subjects having different height, weight, age and gender. Data analysis shows variation in the energy harvested with different physical parameters and gender. Experimentation shows that voltage generated due to exhaled air is promising for harvesting.

Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Exhaled Breath for the Identification of Volatile Organic Compound Biomarkers in Esophageal and Gastric Adenocarcinoma

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kumar, S.; Huang, J.; Abbassi-Ghadi, N.; Mackanzie, H. A.; Veselkov, K. A.; Hoare, J. M.; Lovat, L. B.; Španěl, Patrik; Smith, D.; Hanna, G. B.

2015-01-01

Roč. 262, č. 6 (2015), s. 981-990 ISSN 0003-4932 Institutional support: RVO:61388955 Keywords : breath analysis * esophageal cancer * mass spectrometry Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 8.569, year: 2015

Carotta: Revealing Hidden Confounder Markers in Metabolic Breath Profiles

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Anne-Christin Hauschild

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Computational breath analysis is a growing research area aiming at identifying volatile organic compounds (VOCs in human breath to assist medical diagnostics of the next generation. While inexpensive and non-invasive bioanalytical technologies for metabolite detection in exhaled air and bacterial/fungal vapor exist and the first studies on the power of supervised machine learning methods for profiling of the resulting data were conducted, we lack methods to extract hidden data features emerging from confounding factors. Here, we present Carotta, a new cluster analysis framework dedicated to uncovering such hidden substructures by sophisticated unsupervised statistical learning methods. We study the power of transitivity clustering and hierarchical clustering to identify groups of VOCs with similar expression behavior over most patient breath samples and/or groups of patients with a similar VOC intensity pattern. This enables the discovery of dependencies between metabolites. On the one hand, this allows us to eliminate the effect of potential confounding factors hindering disease classification, such as smoking. On the other hand, we may also identify VOCs associated with disease subtypes or concomitant diseases. Carotta is an open source software with an intuitive graphical user interface promoting data handling, analysis and visualization. The back-end is designed to be modular, allowing for easy extensions with plugins in the future, such as new clustering methods and statistics. It does not require much prior knowledge or technical skills to operate. We demonstrate its power and applicability by means of one artificial dataset. We also apply Carotta exemplarily to a real-world example dataset on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD. While the artificial data are utilized as a proof of concept, we will demonstrate how Carotta finds candidate markers in our real dataset associated with confounders rather than the primary disease (COPD

Radon exhalation rates of concrete modified with fly ash and silica fumes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amit Kumar; Chauhan, R.P.; Mehta, Vimal; Kant, K.

2013-01-01

The radiological impact of the environmental gas radon to the health of general public is of concern since many decades. Cement used for the construction blended with fly ash and silica fumes is recommended by Government in order to avoid the soil and environmental pollution. But these addition step-up the Indoor radon level in the dwelling due to radioactivity contents. The exhalation of radon from concrete blended with silica fumes and fly ash depends upon addition level, porosity, moisture and radioactivity content. In order to optimize the level of substitution of silica fumes and fly ash, measurements of radon exhalation rates from the concrete blended with different proportions of fly ash and silica fumes was carried out using active scintillation radon monitor. The effect of porosity, moisture, back diffusion and radioactivity content of the concrete on exhalation rates is studied. The measured exhalation rates were extrapolated for indoor radon concentration and effective dose equivalent using ICRP, 1987 recommendations. (author)

Effect of breathing technique of blowing on the extent of damage to the perineum at the moment of delivery: A randomized clinical trial

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Zohre Ahmadi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: One of the important tasks in managing labor is the protection of perineum. An important variable affecting this outcome is maternal pushing during the second stage of labor. This study was done to investigate the effect of breathing technique on perineal damage extention in laboring Iranian women. Materials and Methods: This randomized clinical trial was performed on 166 nulliparous pregnant women who had reached full-term pregnancy, had low risk pregnancy, and were candidates for vaginal delivery in two following groups: using breathing techniques (case group and valsalva maneuver (control group. In the control group, pushing was done with holding the breath. In the case group, the women were asked to take 2 deep abdominal breaths at the onset of pain, then take another deep breath, and push 4–5 seconds with the open mouth while controlling exhalation. From the crowning stage onward, the women were directed to control their pushing, and do the blowing technique. Results: According to the results, intact perineum was more observed in the case group (P = 0.002. Posterior tears (Grade 1, 2, and 3 was considerably higher in the control group (P = 0.003. Anterior tears (labias and episiotomy were not significantly different in the two groups. Conclusions: It was concluded that breathing technique of blowing can be a good alternative to Valsalva maneuver in order to reduce perineal damage in laboring women.

Radon and Thoron Exhalation Rates from Surface Soil of Bangka - Belitung Islands, Indonesia

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Syarbaini Syarbaini

2015-03-01

Full Text Available DOI:10.17014/ijog.2.1.35-42Radon and thoron exhalation rate from soil is one of the most important factors that can influence the radioactivity level in the environment. Radon and thoron gases are produced by the decay of the radioactive elements those are radium and thorium in the soil, where its concentration depends on the soil conditions and the local geological background. In this paper, the results of radon and thoron exhalation rate measurements from surface soil of Bangka Belitung Islands at thirty six measurement sites are presented. Exhalation rates of radon and thoron were measured by using an accumulation chamber equipped with a solid-state alpha particle detector. Furthermore, the correlations between radon and thoron exhalation rates with their parent nuclide (226Ra and 232Th concentrations in collected soil samples from the same locations were also evaluated. The result of the measurement shows that mostly the distribution of radon and thoron is similar to 226Ra and 232Th, eventhough it was not a good correlation between radon and thoron exhalation rate with their parent activity concentrations (226Ra and 232Th due to the environmental factors that can influence the radon and thoron mobilities in the soil. In comparison to a world average, Bangka Belitung Islands have the 222Rn and 220Rn exhalation rates higher than the world average value for the regions with normal background radiation.

Real-time continuous visual biofeedback in the treatment of speech breathing disorders following childhood traumatic brain injury: report of one case.

Science.gov (United States)

Murdoch, B E; Pitt, G; Theodoros, D G; Ward, E C

1999-01-01

The efficacy of traditional and physiological biofeedback methods for modifying abnormal speech breathing patterns was investigated in a child with persistent dysarthria following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). An A-B-A-B single-subject experimental research design was utilized to provide the subject with two exclusive periods of therapy for speech breathing, based on traditional therapy techniques and physiological biofeedback methods, respectively. Traditional therapy techniques included establishing optimal posture for speech breathing, explanation of the movement of the respiratory muscles, and a hierarchy of non-speech and speech tasks focusing on establishing an appropriate level of sub-glottal air pressure, and improving the subject's control of inhalation and exhalation. The biofeedback phase of therapy utilized variable inductance plethysmography (or Respitrace) to provide real-time, continuous visual biofeedback of ribcage circumference during breathing. As in traditional therapy, a hierarchy of non-speech and speech tasks were devised to improve the subject's control of his respiratory pattern. Throughout the project, the subject's respiratory support for speech was assessed both instrumentally and perceptually. Instrumental assessment included kinematic and spirometric measures, and perceptual assessment included the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment, Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech, and analysis of a speech sample. The results of the study demonstrated that real-time continuous visual biofeedback techniques for modifying speech breathing patterns were not only effective, but superior to the traditional therapy techniques for modifying abnormal speech breathing patterns in a child with persistent dysarthria following severe TBI. These results show that physiological biofeedback techniques are potentially useful clinical tools for the remediation of speech breathing impairment in the paediatric dysarthric population.

Variation in radon exhalation from the ground on the active fault in Kobe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yasuoka, Y.; Shinogi, M. [Kobe Pharmaceutical Univ., Kobe, Hyogo (Japan)

1998-12-31

Since 27 January 1997, the measurements of radon (Rn-222) exhaled from the ground have been made continuously by the use of PICO-RAD detector (Packard instrument Co.) at monitoring stations on Ashiya active fault. The fault may have been slipped by the Kobe earthquake (magnitude 7.2, 17 January 1995). The variation of relative radon exhalation on the fault was large. We guessed the large variation of relative radon exhalation on the fault was caused by not only the influence of meteorology but also the influence of other factors. (author)

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Effect of Air Stability on Exhaled Air Dispersion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xu, Chunwen; Gong, Guangcai; Nielsen, Peter Vilhelm

2014-01-01

studies. As the thermal stratification under displacement ventilation blocks the vertical movement of exhaled air, the exhaled contaminant may be trapped between temperature stratifications. As the dispersion of contaminant is closely related to the health of human indoors, the temperature structure...... was used for experimental study, and a numerical person was built to simulate the manikin. The velocity, temperature and concentration of tracer gas in exhaled air are affected by air stability to different degrees. The similarity of this effect among these parameters can also be observed through numerical...

Excitations of Bose-Einstein condensates at finite temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rusch, M.

2000-01-01

Recent experimental observations of collective excitations of Bose condensed atomic vapours have stimulated interest in the microscopic description of the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate confined in an external potential. We present a finite temperature field theory for collective excitations of trapped Bose-Einstein condensates and use a finite-temperature linear response formalism, which goes beyond the simple mean-field approximation of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The effect of the non-condensed thermal atoms we include using perturbation theory in a quasiparticle basis. This presents a simple scheme to understand the interaction between condensate and non-condensed atoms and enables us to include the effect the condensate has on collision dynamics. At first we limit our treatment to the case of a spatially homogeneous Bose gas. We include the effect of pair and triplet anomalous averages and thus obtain a gapless theory for the excitations of a weakly interacting system, which we can link to well known results for Landau and Beliaev damping rates. A gapless theory for trapped systems with a static thermal component follows straightforwardly. We then investigate finite temperature excitations of a condensate in a spherically symmetric harmonic trap. We avoid approximations to the density of states and thus emphasise finite size aspects of the problem. We show that excitations couple strongly to a restricted number of modes, giving rise to resonance structure in their frequency spectra. Where possible we derive energy shifts and lifetimes of excitations. For one particular mode, the breathing mode, the effects of the discreteness of the system are sufficiently pronounced that the simple picture of an energy shift and width fails. Experiments in spherical traps have recently become feasible and should be able to test our detailed quantitative predictions. (author)

The Effect of Inhalation Volume and Breath-Hold Duration on the Retention of Nicotine and Solanesol in the Human Respiratory Tract and on Subsequent Plasma Nicotine Concentrations During Cigarette Smoking

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Armitage AK

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The influence of inhalation depth and breath-hold duration on the retention of nicotine and solanesol in the human respiratory tract and on nicotine uptake was studied in ten cigarette smokers. In a first series of experiments, the subjects took seven puffs from a 10 mg ‘tar’ yield, test cigarette and a fixed volume of air (0, 75, 250, 500 or 1000 mL, as required by the protocol was inhaled after each puff in order to give a controlled ‘depth’ of inhalation. The inhalation was drawn from a bag containing the required volume of air. Following a 2 s breath-hold, subjects exhaled normally, with the first exhalation after each puff passing through a single acidified filter pad for collection of the non-retained nicotine and solanesol. Blood samples were taken before and at intervals during and after smoking for the sessions with 0, 75 and 500 mL inhalation volumes for determination of plasma nicotine and carboxyhaemoglobin levels. Another series of experiments was conducted with a fixed inhalation volume (500 mL and two further breath-hold durations (0 and 10 s in addition to 2 s from above. Nicotine and solanesol retentions were measured for each breath-hold condition. The amounts of nicotine retained within the respiratory system, expressed as a percentage of the amount taken into the mouth, were consistently higher than the corresponding values for solanesol in all five inhalation conditions (0-1000 mL, 2 s breath-hold. Nicotine retention increased from 46.5% at zero inhalation to 99.5% at 1000 mL inhalation (2 s breath-hold and from 98.0% at zero breath-hold to 99.9% at 10 s breath-hold (500 mL inhalation. Solanesol retention increased from 34.2% at zero inhalation volume to 71.9% at 1000 mL inhalation (2 s breath-hold and from 51.8% at zero breath-hold to 87.6% at 10 s breath-hold (500 mL inhalation. Plasma nicotine decreased from pre-smoking levels after zero inhalation indicating that the nicotine retained within the mouth was poorly

Measurement of the radon exhalation rate from the medium surface by tracing the radon concentration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanliang Tan; Detao Xiao

2013-01-01

The paper will present a method based on the accumulation chamber technique for measuring of radon exhalation from the medium surface. A radon monitor traces the change of radon concentration in the accumulation chamber, and then the radon exhalation can be obtained accurately through linear fit. Based on our recent experiments, the radon exhalation rate from the medium surface obtained from this method is in good agreement with the actual exhalation rate of our simulation facility. This method is superior to the competition method which obtains the radon exhalation through the exponential fit by an external PC-system. The calculation for the exponential fit is very easy by computer and related software. However, for portable instruments, the single chip microcomputer can't calculate the exponential fit rapidly. Thus, this method is usable for developing the new portable instrument to classify building materials, etc. (author)

Non-asthmatic patients show increased exhaled nitric oxide concentrations

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Beatriz M. Saraiva-Romanholo

2009-01-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Evaluate whether exhaled nitric oxide may serve as a marker of intraoperative bronchospasm. INTRODUCTION: Intraoperative bronchospasm remains a challenging event during anesthesia. Previous studies in asthmatic patients suggest that exhaled nitric oxide may represent a noninvasive measure of airway inflammation. METHODS: A total of 146,358 anesthesia information forms, which were received during the period from 1999 to 2004, were reviewed. Bronchospasm was registered on 863 forms. From those, three groups were identified: 9 non-asthmatic patients (Bronchospasm group, 12 asthmatics (Asthma group and 10 subjects with no previous airway disease or symptoms (Control group. All subjects were submitted to exhaled nitric oxide measurements (parts/billion, spirometry and the induced sputum test. The data was compared by ANOVA followed by the Tukey test and Kruskal-Wallis followed by Dunn's test. RESULTS: The normal lung function test results for the Bronchospasm group were different from those of the asthma group (p <0.05. The median percentage of eosinophils in induced sputum was higher for the Asthma [2.46 (0.45-6.83] compared with either the Bronchospasm [0.55 (0-1.26] or the Control group [0.0 (0] (p <0.05; exhaled nitric oxide followed a similar pattern for the Asthma [81.55 (57.6-86.85], Bronchospasm [46.2 (42.0 -62.6] and Control group [18.7 (16.0-24.7] (p< 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Non-asthmatic patients with intraoperative bronchospasm detected during anesthesia and endotracheal intubation showed increased expired nitric oxide.

Uranium distribution and radon exhalation from Brazilian dimension stones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amaral, P.G.Q.; Galembeck, T.M.B.; Bonotto, D.M.; Artur, A.C.

2012-01-01

This paper provides evaluations of the radiometric behavior and exhalation patterns of radon gas in decorative and dimension stones explored in the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, given the importance of determining radon gas concentrations in human-inhabited environments. A total of 10 silicate rock types were studied, featuring different petrographic/petrophysical characteristics given by seven magmatic rocks (three of which are granitic pegmatites) and three metamorphic rocks. The study, comprising radiometric data of U and monitoring of 222 Rn gas exhalation, shows a strong correlation between petrographic parameters and the physical properties of rocks. U levels ranged between 2.9 and 37 ppm, revealing a good coherence between the presence and the absence of radioactive element-bearing accessory minerals for each rock type. The rate of radon exhalation from the stones is related to the petrographic/petrophysical features of each material. By comparing the 222 Rn level generated by a rock to the amount effectively emanated by it, the rate of emanated gas proves to be insignificant; also, a rock that produces more Rn will not always emanate more. Simulations performed to estimate the radon levels inside residences or any given indoor environment showed that nine samples attained values below the 4 pCi/L EPA limit, whereas one was above that limit. - Highlights: ► Integration of distinct radiometric data acquired in dimension stones. ► Dimension stones are extensively commercialized abroad. ► Rn exhalation above the EPA threshold limit of 4 pCi/L.

Uranium distribution and radon exhalation from Brazilian dimension stones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amaral, P.G.Q.; Galembeck, T.M.B. [Departamento de Petrologia e Metalogenia, Instituto de Geociencias e Ciencias Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Av. 24-A No. 1515, C.P. 178, CEP 13506-900, Rio Claro, Sao Paulo (Brazil); Bonotto, D.M., E-mail: danielbonotto@yahoo.com.br [Departamento de Petrologia e Metalogenia, Instituto de Geociencias e Ciencias Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Av. 24-A No. 1515, C.P. 178, CEP 13506-900, Rio Claro, Sao Paulo (Brazil); Artur, A.C. [Departamento de Petrologia e Metalogenia, Instituto de Geociencias e Ciencias Exatas, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Av. 24-A No. 1515, C.P. 178, CEP 13506-900, Rio Claro, Sao Paulo (Brazil)

2012-04-15

This paper provides evaluations of the radiometric behavior and exhalation patterns of radon gas in decorative and dimension stones explored in the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo, given the importance of determining radon gas concentrations in human-inhabited environments. A total of 10 silicate rock types were studied, featuring different petrographic/petrophysical characteristics given by seven magmatic rocks (three of which are granitic pegmatites) and three metamorphic rocks. The study, comprising radiometric data of U and monitoring of {sup 222}Rn gas exhalation, shows a strong correlation between petrographic parameters and the physical properties of rocks. U levels ranged between 2.9 and 37 ppm, revealing a good coherence between the presence and the absence of radioactive element-bearing accessory minerals for each rock type. The rate of radon exhalation from the stones is related to the petrographic/petrophysical features of each material. By comparing the {sup 222}Rn level generated by a rock to the amount effectively emanated by it, the rate of emanated gas proves to be insignificant; also, a rock that produces more Rn will not always emanate more. Simulations performed to estimate the radon levels inside residences or any given indoor environment showed that nine samples attained values below the 4 pCi/L EPA limit, whereas one was above that limit. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Integration of distinct radiometric data acquired in dimension stones. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Dimension stones are extensively commercialized abroad. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Rn exhalation above the EPA threshold limit of 4 pCi/L.

Determining total hemoglobin mass by means of {sup 13}CO breath analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sowa, Marcus; Hering, Peter [Institut fuer Lasermedizin, Universitaetsklinikum Duesseldorf (Germany)

2010-07-01

The aim of our investigations is the development of a non-invasive method for the determination of the total hemoglobin mass in the human body by means of Cavity Leak-Out Spectroscopy (CALOS). The mentioned CALOS system utilizes a CO gas laser in the mid infrared region around 5{mu}m. This system allows isotopologue selective online measurements of {sup 13}CO with a sensitivity of 7 ppb.Hz{sup -1/2}. {sup 13}CO is a non radioactive isotopologue occurring in a ratio of about 1.1 % of the natural CO composition. CO is commonly known as a highly toxic gas but it is also endogenously produced during heme degradation. About 80 % of this CO is exhaled yielding to CO concentrations between 1 ppm to 4 ppm in healthy humans. Transportation of CO through the body is established by hemoglobin which has a high affinity towards CO. Because of this fact inhaled CO is taken up by the blood until equilibrium between the alveolar air and the blood is reached. By determining the exhaled CO concentrations before and after the inhalation of a certain amount of CO a measure for the t-Hb mass can be calculated. The enormous advantage of the isotopologue measurement is the very small amount of {sup 13}CO which can be used for harmless CO inhalation. All data necessary for calculating the t-Hb mass are obtained from breath measurements making this method non invasive.

Characterization of free breathing patterns with 5D lung motion model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao Tianyu; Lu Wei; Yang Deshan; Mutic, Sasa; Noel, Camille E.; Parikh, Parag J.; Bradley, Jeffrey D.; Low, Daniel A. [Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110 (United States)

2009-11-15

Purpose: To determine the quiet respiration breathing motion model parameters for lung cancer and nonlung cancer patients. Methods: 49 free breathing patient 4DCT image datasets (25 scans, cine mode) were collected with simultaneous quantitative spirometry. A cross-correlation registration technique was employed to track the lung tissue motion between scans. The registration results were applied to a lung motion model: X-vector=X-vector{sub 0}+{alpha}-vector{beta}-vector f, where X-vector is the position of a piece of tissue located at reference position X-vector{sub 0} during a reference breathing phase (zero tidal volume v, zero airflow f). {alpha}-vector is a parameter that characterizes the motion due to air filling (motion as a function of tidal volume v) and {beta}-vector is the parameter that accounts for the motion due to the imbalance of dynamical stress distributions during inspiration and exhalation that causes lung motion hysteresis (motion as a function of airflow f). The parameters {alpha}-vector and {beta}-vector together provide a quantitative characterization of breathing motion that inherently includes the complex hysteresis interplay. The {alpha}-vector and {beta}-vector distributions were examined for each patient to determine overall general patterns and interpatient pattern variations. Results: For 44 patients, the greatest values of |{alpha}-vector| were observed in the inferior and posterior lungs. For the rest of the patients, |{alpha}-vector| reached its maximum in the anterior lung in three patients and the lateral lung in two patients. The hysteresis motion {beta}-vector had greater variability, but for the majority of patients, |{beta}-vector| was largest in the lateral lungs. Conclusions: This is the first report of the three-dimensional breathing motion model parameters for a large cohort of patients. The model has the potential for noninvasively predicting lung motion. The majority of patients exhibited similar |{alpha}-vector| maps

Electrochemical monitoring of malondialdehyde biomarker in biological samples via electropolymerized amino acid/chitosan nanocomposite.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasanzadeh, Mohammad; Mokhtari, Fozieh; Jouyban-Gharamaleki, Vahid; Mokhtarzadeh, Ahad; Shadjou, Nasrin

2018-04-15

This study reports on the electropolymerization of a low toxic and biocompatible nanopolymer with entitle poly arginine-graphene quantum dots-chitosan (PARG-GQDs-CS) as a novel strategy for surface modification of glassy carbon surface and preparation of a new interface for measurement of malondialdehyde (MDA) in exhaled breath condensate. Electrochemical deposition, as a well-controlled synthesis procedure, has been used for subsequently layer-by-layer preparation of GQDs-CS nanostructures on a PARG prepolymerized on the surface of glassy carbon electrode using cyclic voltammetry techniques in the regime of -1.5 to 2 V. The modified electrode appeared as an effective electroactivity for detection of MDA by using cyclic voltammetry, linear sweep voltammetry, and differential pulse voltammetry. The prepared modified electrode demonstrated a noticeably good activity for electrooxidation of MDA than PARG. Enhancement of peak currents is ascribed to the fast heterogeneous electron transfer kinetics that arise from the synergistic coupling between the excellent properties of PARG and semiconducting polymer, GQDs as high density of edge plane sites and subtle electronic characteristics and unique properties of CS such as excellent film-forming ability, high permeability, good adhesion, nontoxicity, cheapness, and a susceptibility to chemical modification. The prepared sensor showed 1 oxidation processes for MDA at potentials about 1 V with a low limit of quantification 5.94 nM. Finally, application of new sensor for determination of MDA in exhaled breath condensate was suited. In general, the simultaneous attachment of GQDs and CS to structure of poly amino acids provides new opportunities within the personal healthcare. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The non-invasive 13C-methionine breath test detects hepatic mitochondrial dysfunction as a marker of disease activity in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Banasch M

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role in the general pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD, increasing the risk of developing steatosis and subsequent hepatocellular inflammation. We aimed to assess hepatic mitochondrial function by a non-invasive 13C-methionine breath test (MeBT in patients with histologically proven NAFLD. Methods 118 NAFLD-patients and 18 healthy controls were examined by MeBT. Liver biopsy specimens were evaluated according to the NASH scoring system. Results Higher grades of NASH activity and fibrosis were independently associated with a significant decrease in cumulative 13C-exhalation (expressed as cPDR(%. cPDR1.5h was markedly declined in patients with NASH and NASH cirrhosis compared to patients with simple steatosis or borderline diagnosis (cPDR1.5h: 3.24 ± 1.12% and 1.32 ± 0.94% vs. 6.36 ± 0.56% and 4.80 ± 0.88% respectively; p 13C-exhalation further declined in the presence of advanced fibrosis which was correlated with NASH activity (r = 0.36. The area under the ROC curve (AUROC for NASH diagnosis was estimated to be 0.87 in the total cohort and 0.83 in patients with no or mild fibrosis (F0-1. Conclusion The 13C-methionine breath test indicates mitochondrial dysfunction in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and predicts higher stages of disease activity. It may, therefore, be a valuable diagnostic addition for longitudinal monitoring of hepatic (mitochondrial function in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Breathing adapted radiotherapy for breast cancer: comparison of free breathing gating with the breath-hold technique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Korreman, Stine Sofia; Pedersen, Anders N; Nøttrup, Trine Jakobi

2005-01-01

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Adjuvant radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer implies a risk of late cardiac and pulmonary toxicity. This is the first study to evaluate cardiopulmonary dose sparing of breathing adapted radiotherapy (BART) using free breathing gating......, and to compare this respiratory technique with voluntary breath-hold. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 17 patients were CT-scanned during non-coached breathing manoeuvre including free breathing (FB), end-inspiration gating (IG), end-expiration gating (EG), deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) and end-expiration breath......-hold (EBH). The Varian Real-time Position Management system (RPM) was used to monitor respiratory movement and to gate the scanner. For each breathing phase, a population based internal margin (IM) was estimated based on average chest wall excursion, and incorporated into an individually optimised three...

Thoron (RN-220) interference in the determination of RN-222 exhalation rate of soils

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amaral, Déric S.; Farias, Emerson E.G.; Santos, Mariana L.O.; Silva, Karolayne E.M.; Hazin, Clovis A.; França, Elvis J., E-mail: emersonemiliano@yahoo.com [Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares do Nordeste (CRCN-NE/CNEN-PE), Recife, PE (Brazil); Souza Neto, João A., E-mail: adauto@ufpe.br [Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, PE (Brazil). Departamento de Geologia

2017-07-01

The transport of Rn-222 from the soil to the atmosphere known as exhalation is influenced by meteorological conditions and soil geophysical parameters. In closed and poorly ventilated rooms, this radioactive gas can reach high activity concentrations, in which the energy of alpha particles released by this radionuclide and its progeny is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Soil exhalation rate is an important parameter for assessing human health risks associated with radon. For radon determination using an exhalation chamber, an ionization chamber detector is used to count the electrical pulses generated by the interaction between the alpha particles produced by Rn-222 and its progeny and the air inside the chamber. In this work, the interference of thoron (Rn-220) in the determination of soil exhalation rate of Rn-222 was studied. For this, the RadonBOX exhalation chamber and the AlphaGuard ionization chamber detector were utilized for analyzing the same soil during two hours on different days under similar meteorological conditions. From zero up to approximately 2,400 s, the radon activity concentrations decreased. After 40 minutes, the radon concentrations started to increase, thereby allowing the calculation of soil exhalation rate. This initial decreasing could be explained by a high Rn-220 than Rn-222 presence in the soil, in which, because of its short half-life, after 40 minutes, most thoron present in the chamber has undergone so that the main alpha emitter become Rn-222. In order to confirm this, Rn-220 activity was estimated by the Ra-228 concentration in the soil determined after 30 days using High Resolution Gamma-Ray Spectrometry with HPGe detectors. Therefore, the thoron interference in the determination of soil radon exhalation rate was considered negligible after 40 minutes of measurement time for the analyzed soil. (author)

Impact of structural parameters on the radon exhalation of building materials: Preliminary study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roelofs, L.M.M.

1993-01-01

Samples of mortar and sand-lime pieces with different percentages of fly ash are hardened at different relative humidities. The porosity distribution, the moisture and the radon exhalation of these samples are determined. Based on the data of the above-mentioned analyses, the thickness of the adsorbed water layer in the water-filled pores is estimated. The correlation between the structural parameters and the radon exhalation is investigated. If the radon exhalation process can be modelled, the radiation risk of applying fly ash in building materials can be controlled or reduced. The results do not yet show a clear indication. The applied methods have to be considered in more detail

Comparison of active and passive methods for radon exhalation from a high-exposure building material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbasi, A.; Mirekhtiary, F.

2013-01-01

The radon exhalation rates and radon concentrations in granite stones used in Iran were measured by means of a high-resolution high purity Germanium gamma-spectroscopy system (passive method) and an AlphaGUARD model PQ 2000 (active method). For standard rooms (4.0 x 35.0 m area x 32.8 height) where ground and walls have been covered by granite stones, the radon concentration and the radon exhalation rate by two methods were calculated. The activity concentrations of 226 Ra in the selected granite samples ranged from 3.8 to 94.2 Bq kg -1 . The radon exhalation rate from the calculation of the 226 Ra activity concentration was obtained. The radon exhalation rates were 1.31-7.86 Bq m -2 h -1 . The direction measurements using an AlphaGUARD were from 218 to 1306 Bq m -3 with a mean of 625 Bq m -3 . Also, the exhalation rates measured by the passive and active methods were compared and the results of this study were the same, with the active method being 22% higher than the passive method. (authors)

Natural radioactivity and radon exhalation rate of soil in southern Egypt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sroor, A.; El-Bahi, S.M.; Ahmed, F.; Abdel-Haleem, A.S.

2001-01-01

The level of natural radioactivity in soil of 30 mining samples collected from six locations in southern Egypt was measured. Concentrations of radionuclides in samples were determined by γ-ray spectrometer using HPGe detector with a specially designed shield. The obtained results of uranium and thorium series as well as potassium (K-40) are discussed. The present data were compared with data obtained from different areas in Egypt. Also, a solid state nuclear track detector SSNTD (Cr-39) was used to measure the radon concentration as well as exhalation rate for these samples. The radon concentrations were found to vary from 1.54 to 5.37 Bq/kg. The exhalation rates were found to vary from 338.81 to 1426.47 Bq/m 2 d. The values of the radon exhalation rate are found to correspond with the uranium concentration values measured by the germanium detector in the corresponding soil samples

Biological exposure assessment to tetrachloroethylene for workers in the dry cleaning industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashley David L

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of conducting biological tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene, PCE exposure assessments of dry cleaning employees in conjunction with evaluation of possible PCE health effects. Methods Eighteen women from four dry cleaning facilities in southwestern Ohio were monitored in a pilot study of workers with PCE exposure. Personal breathing zone samples were collected from each employee on two consecutive work days. Biological monitoring included a single measurement of PCE in blood and multiple measurements of pre- and post-shift PCE in exhaled breath and trichloroacetic acid (TCA in urine. Results Post-shift PCE in exhaled breath gradually increased throughout the work week. Statistically significant correlations were observed among the exposure indices. Decreases in PCE in exhaled breath and TCA in urine were observed after two days without exposure to PCE. A mixed-effects model identified statistically significant associations between PCE in exhaled breath and airborne PCE time weighted average (TWA after adjusting for a random participant effect and fixed effects of time and body mass index. Conclusion Although comprehensive, our sampling strategy was challenging to implement due to fluctuating work schedules and the number (pre- and post-shift on three consecutive days and multiplicity (air, blood, exhaled breath, and urine of samples collected. PCE in blood is the preferred biological index to monitor exposures, but may make recruitment difficult. PCE TWA sampling is an appropriate surrogate, although more field intensive. Repeated measures of exposure and mixed-effects modeling may be required for future studies due to high within-subject variability. Workers should be monitored over a long enough period of time to allow the use of a lag term.

Characteristics of radon and thoron exhalation rates in Okinawa, subtropical region of Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shiroma, Y.; Kina, S.; Fujitani, T.; Hosoda, M.; Sorimachi, A.; Ishikawa, T.; Sahoo, S. K.; Tokonami, S.; Furukawa, M.

2012-01-01

Radon and thoron exhalation rates from the ground surface were estimated in three islands of Okinawa Prefecture, a subtropical region of Japan. In situ measurements of the exhalation rates were conducted at a total of 88 points using an accumulation technique with a ZnS(Ag) scintillation detector. The radon and thoron exhalation rates were calculated to be 1-137(arithmetic mean: 21) mBq m -2 s -1 and 32-6244 (1801) mBq m -2 s -1 , respectively. In the surface soil samples collected at 53 measurement points, 238 U and 232 Th series concentrations were estimated to be 17.9-254.0 (64.0) Bq kg -1 dry and 17.8-136.1 (58.8) Bq kg -1 dry, respectively. The maximum rates and concentrations were observed in the dark red soil area. Recent studies strongly suggest that the base material of the soils may be the eolian dust derived from the southeastern part of China, a high background radiation area. The eolian dust is, therefore, considered to be an enhancer for the radon and thoron exhalations in Okinawa. (authors)

Measurement of 222Rn and 220Rn exhalation rate from soil samples of Kumaun Hills, India

Science.gov (United States)

Semwal, Poonam; Singh, Kuldeep; Agarwal, T. K.; Joshi, Manish; Pant, Preeti; Kandari, Tushar; Ramola, R. C.

2018-03-01

The source terms, i.e., exhalation and emanation from soil and building materials are the primary contributors to the radon (222Rn)/thoron (220Rn) concentration levels in the dwellings, while the ecological constraints like ventilation rate, temperature, pressure, humidity, etc., are the influencing factors. The present study is focused on Almora District of Kumaun, located in Himalayan belt of Uttarakhand, India. For the measurement of 222Rn and 220Rn exhalation rates, 24 soil samples were collected from different locations. Gamma radiation level was measured at each of these locations. Chamber technique associated with Smart Rn Duo portable monitor was employed for the estimation of 222Rn and 220Rn exhalation rates. Radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th and 40K) concentrations were also measured in soil samples using NaI(Tl) scintillation based gamma ray spectrometry. The mass exhalation rate for 222Rn was varying between 16 and 54 mBq/kg/h, while the 220Rn surface exhalation rate was in the range of 0.65-6.43 Bq/m2/s. Measured gamma dose rate for the same region varied from 0.10 to 0.31 µSv/h. Inter-correlation of exhalation rates and intra-correlation with background gamma levels were studied.

TH-E-17A-08: Estimation of Image Quality of 4-Dimensional Computed Tomography (4DCT) Via Fourier Analysis of Corresponding 1D Breathing Surrogate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caraveo, M; McNamara, J; Rimner, A; Yorke, E; Li, G [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (United States); Wei, J [City College of New York, New York, NY (United States)

2014-06-15

Purpose: Motion artifacts are common in patient 4DCT, leading to an illdefined tumor volume with variation up to 110% or setting up a poor foundation with low imaging fidelity for tumor motion study. We developed a method to estimate 4DCT image quality by establishing a correlation between the severity of motion artifacts in 4DCT images and the periodicity of corresponding 1D respiratory wave-function (1DRW) surrogate used for 4DCT reconstruction. Methods: Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) was applied to analyze 1DRW periodicity, defined as the sum of the 5 largest Fourier coefficients, ranging in 0–1. Distortional motion artifacts of cine-scan 4DCT at the junctions of adjacent couchposition scans around the diaphragm were identified in 3 categories: incomplete, overlapping and duplicate. To quantify these artifacts, the discontinuity of the diaphragm at the junctions was measured in distance and averaged along 6 directions in 3 orthogonal views. Mean and sum artifacts per junction (APJ) across the entire diaphragm were calculated in each breathing phase. To make the APJ inter-patient comparable, patientspecific motion was removed from APJ by dividing patient-specific diaphragmatic velocity (displacement divided by the mean period, from FFT analysis of the 1DRW) and the normalized APJ was defined as motion artifact severity (MAS). Twenty-five patients with free-breathing 10-phase 4DCT and corresponding 1DRW surrogate datasets were studied. Results: A mild correlation of 0.56 was found between 1DRW periodicity and 4DCT artifact severity. Higher MAS tends to appear around mid inhalation and mid exhalation and the lowest MAS tends to be around full exhalation. The breathing periodicity of >0.8 possesses minimal motion artifacts. Conclusion: The 1D-4D correlation provides a fast means to estimate 4DCT image quality. Using 1DRW signal, we can retrospectively screen out high-quality 4DCT images for clinical research (periodicity>0.8) and prospectively identify poor

TH-E-17A-08: Estimation of Image Quality of 4-Dimensional Computed Tomography (4DCT) Via Fourier Analysis of Corresponding 1D Breathing Surrogate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caraveo, M; McNamara, J; Rimner, A; Yorke, E; Li, G; Wei, J

2014-01-01

Purpose: Motion artifacts are common in patient 4DCT, leading to an illdefined tumor volume with variation up to 110% or setting up a poor foundation with low imaging fidelity for tumor motion study. We developed a method to estimate 4DCT image quality by establishing a correlation between the severity of motion artifacts in 4DCT images and the periodicity of corresponding 1D respiratory wave-function (1DRW) surrogate used for 4DCT reconstruction. Methods: Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) was applied to analyze 1DRW periodicity, defined as the sum of the 5 largest Fourier coefficients, ranging in 0–1. Distortional motion artifacts of cine-scan 4DCT at the junctions of adjacent couchposition scans around the diaphragm were identified in 3 categories: incomplete, overlapping and duplicate. To quantify these artifacts, the discontinuity of the diaphragm at the junctions was measured in distance and averaged along 6 directions in 3 orthogonal views. Mean and sum artifacts per junction (APJ) across the entire diaphragm were calculated in each breathing phase. To make the APJ inter-patient comparable, patientspecific motion was removed from APJ by dividing patient-specific diaphragmatic velocity (displacement divided by the mean period, from FFT analysis of the 1DRW) and the normalized APJ was defined as motion artifact severity (MAS). Twenty-five patients with free-breathing 10-phase 4DCT and corresponding 1DRW surrogate datasets were studied. Results: A mild correlation of 0.56 was found between 1DRW periodicity and 4DCT artifact severity. Higher MAS tends to appear around mid inhalation and mid exhalation and the lowest MAS tends to be around full exhalation. The breathing periodicity of >0.8 possesses minimal motion artifacts. Conclusion: The 1D-4D correlation provides a fast means to estimate 4DCT image quality. Using 1DRW signal, we can retrospectively screen out high-quality 4DCT images for clinical research (periodicity>0.8) and prospectively identify poor

Breath analysis as a potential and non-invasive frontier in disease diagnosis: an overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Jorge; Porto-Figueira, Priscilla; Cavaco, Carina; Taunk, Khushman; Rapole, Srikanth; Dhakne, Rahul; Nagarajaram, Hampapathalu; Câmara, José S

2015-01-09

Currently, a small number of diseases, particularly cardiovascular (CVDs), oncologic (ODs), neurodegenerative (NDDs), chronic respiratory diseases, as well as diabetes, form a severe burden to most of the countries worldwide. Hence, there is an urgent need for development of efficient diagnostic tools, particularly those enabling reliable detection of diseases, at their early stages, preferably using non-invasive approaches. Breath analysis is a non-invasive approach relying only on the characterisation of volatile composition of the exhaled breath (EB) that in turn reflects the volatile composition of the bloodstream and airways and therefore the status and condition of the whole organism metabolism. Advanced sampling procedures (solid-phase and needle traps microextraction) coupled with modern analytical technologies (proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry, selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, ion mobility spectrometry, e-noses, etc.) allow the characterisation of EB composition to an unprecedented level. However, a key challenge in EB analysis is the proper statistical analysis and interpretation of the large and heterogeneous datasets obtained from EB research. There is no standard statistical framework/protocol yet available in literature that can be used for EB data analysis towards discovery of biomarkers for use in a typical clinical setup. Nevertheless, EB analysis has immense potential towards development of biomarkers for the early disease diagnosis of diseases.

Exhaled nitric oxide in a population-based study of asthma and allergy in schoolchildren.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordvall, S L; Janson, C; Kalm-Stephens, P; Foucard, T; Torén, K; Alving, K

2005-04-01

Exhaled nitric oxide (NO) reflects inflammation in the lower airways and is well adapted for use in children. The aims of this study were to investigate the distribution of the fraction of expired NO (FENO) in school children and to compare FENO and spirometry in relation to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire. The study was performed in 959 randomly selected 13-14-year-old school children in Uppsala, Sweden. Exhaled NO was measured at an inhalation rate of 0.1 l/s (FENO0.1) and a spirometric test was performed and data from these measurements were related to questionnaire data. Exhaled NO was measured according to American Thoracic Society recommendations, except the use of a mouth wash and an exhalation flow rate of 0.1 l/s. The distribution of the mean FENO0.1 values was skewed, with a preponderance of very low levels and a widespread tail of values ranging up to 102 parts per billion (ppb). Boys exhibited significantly higher mean FENO0.1 values than girls, 5.2 (4.7-5.7) vs 4.4 (4.0-4.8) ppb (geometric mean and 95% CI), P <0.01). Children who reported wheezing in the last year had higher FENO0.1 values than children that had not, 8.5 (7.1-10.2) vs 4.3 (4.0-4.6) ppb, P <0.001). The same association was found to most symptoms indicating hay fever and eczema. In contrast to this, only weak or inconsistent associations were found between asthma and spirometric indices. Exhaled NO levels were found to be independently related to male gender, wheeze and rhinoconjuctivitis but not to current eczema. In conclusion, exhaled NO was closely associated with reported asthma and allergy symptoms whereas spirometric indices such as percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s were not. As most asthma cases in a population are mild, the findings suggest that exhaled NO is a sensitive marker of asthma and allergy.

SU-E-J-227: Breathing Pattern Consistency and Reproducibility: Comparative Analysis for Supine and Prone Body Positioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laugeman, E; Weiss, E; Chen, S; Hugo, G; Rosu, M

2014-01-01

Purpose: Evaluate and compare the cycle-to-cycle consistency of breathing patterns and their reproducibility over the course of treatment, for supine and prone positioning. Methods: Respiratory traces from 25 patients were recorded for sequential supine/prone 4DCT scans acquired prior to treatment, and during the course of the treatment (weekly or bi-weekly). For each breathing cycle, the average(AVE), end-of-exhale(EoE) and end-of-inhale( EoI) locations were identified using in-house developed software. In addition, the mean values and variations for the above quantities were computed for each breathing trace. F-tests were used to compare the cycle-to-cycle consistency of all pairs of sequential supine and prone scans. Analysis of variances was also performed using population means for AVE, EoE and EoI to quantify differences between the reproducibility of prone and supine respiration traces over the treatment course. Results: Consistency: Cycle-to-cycle variations are less in prone than supine in the pre-treatment and during-treatment scans for AVE, EoE and EoI points, for the majority of patients (differences significant at p<0.05). The few cases where the respiratory pattern had more variability in prone appeared to be random events. Reproducibility: The reproducibility of breathing patterns (supine and prone) improved as treatment progressed, perhaps due to patients becoming more comfortable with the procedure. However, variability in supine position continued to remain significantly larger than in prone (p<0.05), as indicated by the variance analysis of population means for the pretreatment and subsequent during-treatment scans. Conclusions: Prone positioning stabilizes breathing patterns in most subjects investigated in this study. Importantly, a parallel analysis of the same group of patients revealed a tendency towards increasing motion amplitude of tumor targets in prone position regardless of their size or location; thus, the choice for body positioning

Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Exhaled Cigarette Smoke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moldoveanu SC

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The retention by humans of 20 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs from mainstream cigarette smoke was evaluated. The analysis was done by a new technique using solid phase extraction (SPE for the cleanup and the concenration of PAHs. The new technique has excellent sensitivity and accuracy, which were necessary for the analysis of the very low levels of PAHs present in the exhaled cigarette smoke. The study was done on a common commercial cigarette with 10.6 mg ‘tar’ by U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC recommendation. The results were obtained from ten human subjects, each smoking three cigarettes. The exhaled smoke was collected using a vacuum assisted procedure that avoids strain in exhaling. The study showed that the PAHs with a molecular weight lower than about 170 Daltons are retained with high efficiency. The heavier molecules are less retained, but even compounds such as indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene, dibenz[a, h]anthracene, and benzoperylene are retained with efficiencies around 50%. The dependence of retention efficiency for PAHs (in % on their octanol-water partition coefficient (LogPow was found to be nonlinear and showed considerable variability for several compounds that have very close LogPow values. Better correlation was obtained between the retention efficiency and PAHs vapor pressure (Log VP.

An electronic nose in the discrimination of patients with non-small cell lung cancer and COPD.

Science.gov (United States)

Dragonieri, Silvano; Annema, Jouke T; Schot, Robert; van der Schee, Marc P C; Spanevello, Antonio; Carratú, Pierluigi; Resta, Onofrio; Rabe, Klaus F; Sterk, Peter J

2009-05-01

Exhaled breath contains thousands of gaseous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may be used as non-invasive markers of lung disease. The electronic nose analyzes VOCs by composite nano-sensor arrays with learning algorithms. It has been shown that an electronic nose can distinguish the VOCs pattern in exhaled breath of lung cancer patients from healthy controls. We hypothesized that an electronic nose can discriminate patients with lung cancer from COPD patients and healthy controls by analyzing the VOC-profile in exhaled breath. 30 subjects participated in a cross-sectional study: 10 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, [age 66.4+/-9.0, FEV(1) 86.3+/-20.7]), 10 patients with COPD (age 61.4+/-5.5, FEV(1) 70.0+/-14.8) and 10 healthy controls (age 58.3+/-8.1, FEV(1) 108.9+/-14.6). After 5 min tidal breathing through a non-rebreathing valve with inspiratory VOC-filter, subjects performed a single vital capacity maneuver to collect dried exhaled air into a Tedlar bag. The bag was connected to the electronic nose (Cyranose 320) within 10 min, with VOC-filtered room air as baseline. The smellprints were analyzed by onboard statistical software. Smellprints from NSCLC patients clustered distinctly from those of COPD subjects (cross validation value [CVV]: 85%; M-distance: 3.73). NSCLC patients could also be discriminated from healthy controls in duplicate measurements (CVV: 90% and 80%, respectively; M-distance: 2.96 and 2.26). VOC-patterns of exhaled breath discriminates patients with lung cancer from COPD patients as well as healthy controls. The electronic nose may qualify as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for lung cancer in the future.

Do linear logistic model analyses of volatile biomarkers in exhaled breath of cystic fibrosis patients reliably indicate Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Španěl, Patrik; Sovová, Kristýna; Dryahina, Kseniya; Doušová, B.; Dřevínek, P.; Smith, D.

2016-01-01

Roč. 10, č. 3 (2016), s. 036013 ISSN 1752-7155 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-14534S Institutional support: RVO:61388955 Keywords : breath analysis * selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry * volatile metabolites Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 4.318, year: 2016

Arachidonic Acid Derivatives in the Exhaled Breath Condensate in Pneumoconioses and their Correlation with Individual Factors

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelclová, D.; Fenclová, Z.; Kačer, J.; Navrátil, Tomáš; Kuzma, Marek; Lebedová, J.; Klusáčková, P.

2007-01-01

Roč. 101, s (2007), s144-s146 E-ISSN 1213-7103. [Mezioborová česko-slovenská toxikologická konference /12./. Praha, 11.06.2007-13.06.2007] R&D Projects: GA MZd NR9338 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503; CEZ:AV0Z50200510 Keywords : silica * asbestos * leukotrienes Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry

Mechanical ventilation with heated humidifiers: measurements of condensed water mass within the breathing circuit according to ventilatory settings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schena, E; Saccomandi, P; Cappelli, S; Silvestri, S

2013-01-01

Heated wire humidifiers (HWHs) are widely used to heat and humidify gases during mechanical ventilation. The control strategy implemented on commercial HWHs, based on maintaining constant gas temperature at the chamber outlet, shows weaknesses: humidifying performances depend on environmental temperature and ventilatory settings, and often condensation occurs. Herein, we analyzed in vitro HWH performances focusing on the condensation amount according to ventilatory settings. We used a physical model to define the parameters which mainly influence the HWH performances. In order to investigate the influence of minute volume (MV) and frequency rate (f r ) on condensation, the other influencing parameters were kept constant during experiments, and we introduced a novel approach to estimate the condensation. The method, based on measuring the condensed vapor mass (Δm), provided more objective information than the visual-based scale used in previous studies. Thanks to both the control of other influencing factors and the accurate Δm measures, the investigation showed the Δm increase with MV and f r . Substantial condensation after 7 h of ventilation and the influence of MV and f r on Δm (i.e., Δm = 3 g at MV = 1.5 L min −1 and f r = 8 bpm and Δm = 9.4 g at MV = 8 L min −1 and f r = 20 bpm) confirm the weaknesses of 'single-point temperature' control strategies. (paper)

Medical Issues: Breathing

Science.gov (United States)

... Information Packets Equipment Pool Living With SMA Medical Issues Palliative Breathing Orthopedics Nutrition Equipment Daily Life At ... curesma.org > support & care > living with sma > medical issues > breathing Breathing Breathing problems are the most common ...

Determination of exhalation rate of radon from walls and indoor radon by CR-39 detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasidov, A.; Tillaev, T.S.

2007-01-01

Full text: The knowledge of true value exhalation rate of radon gas from building materials represents scientific and practical interest in environmental radiation protection. This point of view in the paper exhalation rate of radon gas from building materials and a surface of walls with different constructions were determined by detectors CR-39. The values of the exhalation rate of radon per unit area of the granite, concrete, fired and unfired bricks, sand, cement, alabaster varied 0.091 - 0.1 Bq·m -2 ·h -1 . The surface of walls of dwellings constructed from different building materials the exhalation rate of radon are within in limits of 0.083-1.12 Bq·m -2 ·h -1 . Were measurements with CR-39 detectors a level of radon within 50-520 Bq/m 3 in air of rooms constructed of the different building materials

Phosphogypsum recycling in the building materials industry: assessment of the radon exhalation rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Campos, M P; Costa, L J P; Nisti, M B; Mazzilli, B P

2017-06-01

Phosphogypsum can be classified as a Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) residue of the phosphate fertilizer industry. One of the main environmental concerns of its use as building material is the radon exhalation. The aim of this study is to measure the radon exhalation rate from plates and bricks manufactured with phosphogypsum from three installations of the main Brazilian producer, Vale Fertilizantes, in order to evaluate the additional health risk to dwellers. A simple and reliable accumulator method involving a PVC pipe sealed with a PVC pipe cover commercially available with CR-39 radon detector into a diffusion chamber was used for measuring radon exhalation rate from phosphogypsum made plates and bricks. The radon exhalation rate from plates varied from 0.19 ± 0.06 Bq m -2 h -1 , for phosphogypsum from Bunge Fertilizers, from 1.3 ± 0.3 Bq m -2 h -1 , for phosphogypsum from Ultrafertil. As for the bricks, the results ranged from 0.11 ± 0.01 Bq m -2 h -1 , for phosphogypsum from Bunge Fertilizers, to 1.2 ± 0.3 Bq m -2 h -1 , for phosphogypsum from Ultrafertil. The results obtained in this study for the radon exhalation rate from phosphogypsum plates and bricks are of the same order of magnitude than those from ordinary building materials. So, it can be concluded that the recycling of phosphogypsum as building material is a safe practice, since no additional health risk is expected from the radiological point of view. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Initial experience with active breathing control of liver motion during ventilation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robertson, John M.; Sharpe, Michael B.; Jaffray, David A.; Wong, John W.

1997-01-01

Purpose: Recent evidence has shown that some patients with hepatic tumors can be safely irradiated to a dose well over twice the whole liver tolerance dose if portions of normal liver are spared. Correction during treatment planning for the ventilatory motion of the liver can add a large volume of normal liver to the planning target volume. Any reduction in ventilatory motion has the potential to allow a higher dose of radiation to be given safely. Active Breathing Control (ABC) can be used to temporarily stop the airflow to a patient, thus immobilizing the liver, at any part of a patient's ventilatory cycle. ABC during helical CT scanning can be used to study the full three dimensional motion of the liver and other abdominal organs during ventilation. Ultimately, if the use of ABC is found to be clinically feasible, tolerable for patients, and, most importantly, reproducible over time, then ABC may be used during radiation treatment. Materials and Methods: An ABC apparatus was constructed using a flow monitor and scissor valves on both the inhalation and exhalation paths to the patient. The patient breathed through either a mouthpiece or facemask during the procedure. The ventilatory cycle was displayed in real time. When a stable breathing pattern was observed, the ABC was activated at a specific lung volume, closing both scissors valves, and preventing ventilation. The length of time for comfortable activation of the ABC machine for the individual patient was determined during a teaching and practice period prior to CT scanning. Helical CT scans (slice thickness 0.5 cm) to assess the potential benefit of immobilizing breathing were obtained for normal breathing, end-inspiration and end-expiration. The reproducibility of ABC over time was assessed by repeating the end-inspiration scan both immediately and one week later. The contours of the liver and kidneys were entered for each study. Results: Five patients have undergone ABC study of the abdomen. End

Kidney motion during free breathing and breath hold for MR-guided radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stam, Mette K; Van Vulpen, Marco; Intven, Martijn; Crijns, Sjoerd P M; Lagendijk, Jan J W; Raaymakers, Bas W; Barendrecht, Maurits M; Zonnenberg, Bernard A

2013-01-01

Current treatments for renal cell carcinoma have a high complication rate due to the invasiveness of the treatment. With the MRI-linac it may be possible to treat renal tumours non-invasively with high-precision radiotherapy. This is expected to reduce complications. To deliver a static dose distribution, radiation gating will be used. In this study the reproducibility and efficiency of free breathing gating and a breath hold treatment of the kidney was investigated. For 15 patients with a renal lesion the kidney motion during 2 min of free breathing and 10 consecutive expiration breath holds was studied with 2D cine MRI. The variability in kidney expiration position and treatment efficiency for gating windows of 1 to 20 mm was measured for both breathing patterns. Additionally the time trend in free breathing and the variation in expiration breath hold kidney position with baseline shift correction was determined. In 80% of the patients the variation in expiration position during free breathing is smaller than 2 mm. No clinically relevant time trends were detected. The variation in expiration breath hold is for all patients larger than the free breathing expiration variation. Gating on free breathing is, for gating windows of 1 to 5 mm more efficient than breath hold without baseline correction. When applying a baseline correction to the breath hold it increases the treatment efficiency. The kidney position is more reproducible in expiration free breathing than non-guided expiration breath hold. For small gating windows it is also more time efficient. Since free breathing also seems more comfortable for the patients it is the preferred breathing pattern for MRI-Linac treatments of the kidney. (paper)

Carbon-14 urea breath test for the diagnosis of Campylobacter pylori associated gastritis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marshall, B.J.; Surveyor, I.

1988-01-01

Urease in the human gastric mucosa is a marker for infection with Campylobacter pylori (CP), an organism suspected of causing chronic gastritis and peptic ulceration. To detect gastric urease, we examined 32 patients who were being evaluated for possible peptic ulcer disease. Fasting patients were given 10 microCi (370 kBq) of 14 C-labeled urea. Breath samples were collected in hyamine at intervals between 1 and 30 min. The amount of 14 C collected at these times was expressed as: body weight X (% of administered dose of 14 C in sample)/(mmol of CO 2 collected). The presence of C. pylori colonization was also determined by examination of multiple endoscopic gastric biopsy specimens. On average, patients who were proven to have C. pylori infection exhaled 20 times more labeled CO 2 than patients who were not infected. The difference between infected patients and C. pylori negative control patients was highly significant at all time points between 2 and 30 min after ingestion of the radionuclide (p less than 0.0001). The noninvasive urea breath is less expensive than endoscopic biopsy of the stomach and more accurate than serology as a means of detecting Campylobacter pylori infection. Because the test detects actual viable CP organisms, it can be used to confirm eradication of the bacterium after antibacterial therapy

FeNO measured at fixed exhalation flow rate during controlled tidal breathing in children from the age of 2 yr

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buchvald, F; Bisgaard, H

2001-01-01

it with NO in mixed exhaled air collected in a bag (FeNO [mixed]). Sixty-seven children were studied: 16 school children and 51 children aged 2-5 yr; 14 of the young children were healthy, 22 had asthma treated with regular inhaled budesonide, and 15 had mild episodic wheeze treated with inhaled terbutaline...... dose of budesonide was tapered in nine young children with asthma. FeNO(controlled) is feasible in young children from age 2 and shows better agreement with FeNO(SBOL) than FeNO(mixed). FeNO(controlled) covaries with asthma disease severity and steroid dose. FeNO(controlled) is therefore suggested...... as necessary. FeNO (controlled) showed good agreement with FeNO(SBOL) (factor difference 0.7-1.4), whereas FeNO(mixed) showed poor agreement with FeNO(SBOL) (factor difference 0.51-5.37). FeNO(controlled) (mean [95% confidence interval]) was 6 ppb (4-8 ppb) in young children with asthma, 5 ppb (3-7 ppb...

Effect of aging on the concentrations of nitrous oxide in exhaled air

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitsui, T.; Shimaoka, K.; Miyamura, M. [Research Center of Health, Physical Fitness and Sports, Nagoya University, Nagoya (Japan); Kato, N. [Chukyo Women`s University, Obu (Japan)

1997-12-03

Trace gases in exhaled air have been used as a simple means of assessing metabolic reactions. The investigations of trace gases derived from bacteria in human exhalation are usually hydrogen (H{sub 2}) or methane (CH{sub 4}). On the other hand, nitrous oxide (N{sub 2}O) is also derived from microorganisms, especially denitrifying bacteria. Although many kinds of denitrifying bacteria have been isolated on and in the human body, there has been few concerning N{sub 2}O. We studied 222 healthy people from the age of 5 to 85 years. The analysis of N{sub 2}O in exhaled air was carried out by a infrared-photoacoustic (IR-PAS) analyzer. It was found that N{sub 2}0 ranged from 0 to 1670 ppbv in exhaled air and that 59% (131) of the subjects were producers N{sub 2}O. A highly significant relationship was observed between age and concentrations of N{sub 2}O (r=0.40, P<0.01). The rate of production in young children and in the aged was significantly higher than that in adults aged 20-39 years (P<0.01), and less than 30% were producers during puberty. The change of normal microflora and in human body with aging may have caused the significant relationship between age and emissions of N{sub 2}O

Measurements of Dermal and Oral Emissions from Humans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tsushima, Sayana; Bekö, Gabriel; Bossi, Rossana

2016-01-01

Human related pollutants (bioeffluents) emitted through skin and via exhaled breath were measured. Two climate chambers were connected via flexible ducts. The ducts were in one chamber attached to a breathing mask, through which five subjects exhaled on one occasion the air into the other chamber......: Human bioeffluents emitted orally were in this way isolated from those that were emitted dermally. On another occasion, the subjects exhaled the air into the chamber where they were sitting, thus exposure contained oral and dermal bioeffluents. Another twenty subjects assessed the air quality...... in the chambers. They judged the air quality in the chamber with dermal bioeffluents to be lower than in the one containing orally exhaled bioeffluents, and similar to the air quality in the chamber with all bioeffluents. The chemical compounds with slightly elevated concentrations differed between the two...

A simple trapping method of exhaled water using an ice-cooled tube to monitor the tritium level in human body

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nogawa, Norio; Makide, Yoshihiro

1994-01-01

A convenient and efficient method is developed for the trapping of water in exhaled air. A bent-V-shaped glass sampling tube was immersed in iced water and exhaled air was introduced into the tube through a plastic straw. The trapping efficiency of exhaled water was equivalent to those with more complex and troublesome methods. Using anywhere available ice, the water in exhaled air can be rapidly collected with this method and the tritium level in the body will be quickly obtained. (author)

Exposure to potentially toxic hydrocarbons and halocarbons released from the dialyzer and tubing set during hemodialysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyun Ji Julie; Meinardi, Simone; Pahl, Madeleine V; Vaziri, Nostratola D; Blake, Donald R

2012-10-01

Although much is known about the effect of chronic kidney failure and dialysis on the composition of solutes in plasma, little is known about their impact on the composition of gaseous compounds in exhaled breath. This study was designed to explore the effect of uremia and the hemodialysis (HD) procedure on the composition of exhaled breath. Breath samples were collected from 10 dialysis patients immediately before, during, and after a dialysis session. To determine the potential introduction of gaseous compounds from dialysis components, gasses emitted from dialyzers, tubing set, dialysate, and water supplies were collected. Prospective cohort study. 10 HD patients and 10 age-matched healthy individuals. Predictors include the dialyzers, tubing set, dialysate, and water supplies before, during, and after dialysis. Changes in the composition of exhaled breath. A 5-column/detector gas chromatography system was used to measure hydrocarbon, halocarbon, oxygenate, and alkyl nitrate compounds. Concentrations of 14 hydrocarbons and halocarbons in patients' breath rapidly increased after the onset of the HD treatment. All 14 compounds and 5 others not found in patients' breath were emitted from the dialyzers and tubing sets. Contrary to earlier reports, exhaled breath ethane concentrations in our dialysis patients were virtually unchanged during the HD treatment. Single-center study with a small sample size may limit the generalizability of the findings. The study documented the release of several potentially toxic hydrocarbons and halocarbons to patients from the dialyzer and tubing sets during the HD procedure. Because long-term exposure to these compounds may contribute to the morbidity and mortality in dialysis population, this issue should be considered in the manufacturing of the new generation of dialyzers and dialysis tubing sets. Copyright © 2012 National Kidney Foundation, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Natural radioactivity content and radon exhalation from materials used for construction and decoration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ngachin, M.; Garavaglia, M.; Giovani, C.; Scruzzi, E.; Kwato Njock, M.G.; Nourreddine, A.

2007-02-01

The present work deals with the measurement of radioactivity and radon exhalation rate from geological samples manufactured in Douala city and used as building materials. Nine types of building materials were surveyed for their natural radioactivity content using a hyper purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The absorbed dose rate in the samples investigated ranged from 28.5 to 66.6 nGy h -1 for brick samples, from 32.4 to 63.1 nGy h -1 for roofing tiles and was 30.3 nGy h -1 for concrete. External and internal hazard indexes were also estimated as defined by the European Commission. The study of radon exhalation rate from building materials is important for well understanding the individual contribution of each material to the total indoor radon exposure. Solid state nuclear track detectors, CR-39 were used for measuring the radon concentration from different materials. Samples were hermetically closed in glass vessels and the radon growth was followed as a function of time. Exploring the one-dimension radon transport equation, we derived the radon exhalation rate from the experimental measurement of α-track densities. The radon exhalation varied from (5.77±0.06) x 10 -5 to (7.61±0.07) x 10 -5 Bq cm -2 h -1 in bricks, from (5.79±0.05) x 10 -5 to (11.6±0.12) x 10 -5 in tiles and was (6.95±0.03) x 10 -5 Bq cm -2 h -1 in concrete. A positive correlation was found between uranium concentration measured with HPGe detector radon exhalation rate and radium content obtained using nuclear track detectors. (author)

Radon-222 exhalation from Danish building materials: H + H Industri A/S results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersen, C.E.

1999-08-01

This report describes a closed-chamber method for laboratory measurements of the rate at which radon-222 degasses (exhales) from small building material samples. The chamber is 55 L in volume and the main sample geometry is a slab of dimensions 5x30x30 cm 3 . Numerical modelling is used to assess (and partly remove) the bias of the method relative to an ideal measurement of the free exhalation rate. Experimental results obtained with the method are found to be in agreement with the results of an open-chamber method (which is subject to different sources of error). Results of radon-222 exhalation rate measurements for 10 samples of Danish building materials are reported. Samples include ordinary concrete, lightweight aggregate concrete, autoclaved aerated concrete, bricks, and gypsum board. The maximum mass-specific exhalation rate is about 20 mBq h -1 kg -1 . Under consideration of the specific applications of the investigated building materials, the contribution to the indoor radon-222 concentration in a single-family reference house is calculated. Numerical modelling is used to help extrapolate the laboratory measurements on small samples to full scale walls. Application of typical materials will increase the indoor concentration by less than 10 Bq m -3 . (au)

Uranium, radium and radon exhalation study in some soil samples using track etch technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harmanjit, Singh; Joga, Singh; Surinder, Singh; Bajwa, B.S.

2006-01-01

Full text of publication follows: Uranium, radium concentration and radon exhalation rates have been determined in the soil samples collected from some areas of Punjab using the L.R.-115 nuclear track detectors. Radium concentration in these samples has been found to be varying from 0.80 to 5.34 Bq Kg-1. The radon exhalation rate in these samples has been found to be varying from 0.99 to 6.60 mBq Kg -1 h -1 (32.82 to 218.49 mBqm -2 h -1 ). A good correlation has been observed between radon exhalation rate and radium concentration observed in the soil samples. The uranium concentration in all these samples is being carried out and the other correlations will also be established. (authors)

Breath-print analysis by e-nose for classifying and monitoring chronic liver disease: a proof-of-concept study.

Science.gov (United States)

De Vincentis, Antonio; Pennazza, Giorgio; Santonico, Marco; Vespasiani-Gentilucci, Umberto; Galati, Giovanni; Gallo, Paolo; Vernile, Chiara; Pedone, Claudio; Antonelli Incalzi, Raffaele; Picardi, Antonio

2016-05-05

Since the liver plays a key metabolic role, volatile organic compounds in the exhaled breath might change with type and severity of chronic liver disease (CLD). In this study we analysed breath-prints (BPs) of 65 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC), 39 with non-cirrhotic CLD (NC-CLD) and 56 healthy controls by the e-nose. Distinctive BPs characterized LC, NC-CLD and healthy controls, and, among LC patients, the different Child-Pugh classes (sensitivity 86.2% and specificity 98.2% for CLD vs healthy controls, and 87.5% and 69.2% for LC vs NC-CLD). Moreover, the area under the BP profile, derived from radar-plot representation of BPs, showed an area under the ROC curve of 0.84 (95% CI 0.76-0.91) for CLD, of 0.76 (95% CI 0.66-0.85) for LC, and of 0.70 (95% CI 0.55-0.81) for decompensated LC. By applying the cut-off values of 862 and 812, LC and decompensated LC could be predicted with high accuracy (PPV 96.6% and 88.5%, respectively). These results are proof-of-concept that the e-nose could be a valid non-invasive instrument for characterizing CLD and monitoring hepatic function over time. The observed classificatory properties might be further improved by refining stage-specific breath-prints and considering the impact of comorbidities in a larger series of patients.

Design of the exhale airway stents for emphysema (EASE) trial : an endoscopic procedure for reducing hyperinflation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shah, Pallav L.; Slebos, Dirk-Jan; Cardoso, Paulo F. G.; Cetti, Edward J.; Sybrecht, Gerhard W.; Cooper, Joel D.

2011-01-01

Background: Airway Bypass is a catheter-based, bronchoscopic procedure in which new passageways are created that bypass the collapsed airways, enabling trapped air to exit the lungs. The Exhale Airway Stents for Emphysema (EASE) Trial was designed to investigate whether Exhale (R) Drug-Eluting

Landau damping of transverse quadrupole oscillations of an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guilleumas, M.; Pitaevskii, L.P.

2003-01-01

We have studied the interaction between the low-lying transverse collective oscillations and the thermal excitations of an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate by means of perturbation theory. We consider a cylindrical trapped condensate and calculate the transverse elementary excitations at zero temperature by solving the linearized Gross-Pitaevskii equations in two dimensions (2D). We use them to calculate the matrix elements between the thermal excited states and the quasi-2D collective modes. The Landau damping of transverse collective modes is studied as a function of temperature. At low temperatures, the corresponding damping rate is in agreement with the experimental data for the decay of the transverse quadrupole mode, but it is too small to explain the observed slow decay of the transverse breathing mode. The reason for this discrepancy is discussed

Environmental and personal determinants of the uptake of disinfection by-products during swimming.

Science.gov (United States)

Font-Ribera, Laia; Kogevinas, Manolis; Schmalz, Christina; Zwiener, Christian; Marco, Esther; Grimalt, Joan O; Liu, Jiaqi; Zhang, Xiangru; Mitch, William; Critelli, Rossana; Naccarati, Alessio; Heederik, Dick; Spithoven, Jack; Arjona, Lourdes; de Bont, Jeroen; Gracia-Lavedan, Esther; Villanueva, Cristina M

2016-08-01

Trihalomethanes (THMs) in exhaled breath and trichloroacetic acid (TCAA) in urine are internal dose biomarkers of exposure to disinfection by-products (DBPs) in swimming pools. We assessed how these biomarkers reflect the levels of a battery of DBPs in pool water and trichloramine in air, and evaluated personal determinants. A total of 116 adults swam during 40min in a chlorinated indoor pool. We measured chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform in exhaled breath and TCAA in urine before and after swimming, trichloramine in air and several DBPs in water. Personal determinants included sex, age, body mass index (BMI), distance swum, energy expenditure, heart rate and 12 polymorphisms in GSTT1, GSTZ1 and CYP2E1 genes. Median level of exhaled total THMs and creatinine adjusted urine TCAA increased from 0.5 to 14.4µg/m(3) and from 2.5 to 5.8µmol/mol after swimming, respectively. The increase in exhaled brominated THMs was correlated with brominated THMs, haloacetic acids, haloacetonitriles, haloketones, chloramines, total organic carbon and total organic halogen in water and trichloramine in air. Such correlations were not detected for exhaled chloroform, total THMs or urine TCAA. Exhaled THM increased more in men, urine TCAA increased more in women, and both were affected by exercise intensity. Genetic variants were associated with differential increases in exposure biomarkers. Our findings suggest that, although affected by sex, physical activity and polymorphisms in key metabolizing enzymes, brominated THMs in exhaled breath could be used as a non-invasive DBP exposure biomarker in swimming pools with bromide-containing source waters. This warrants confirmation with new studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Breath Analysis as a Potential and Non-Invasive Frontier in Disease Diagnosis: An Overview

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge Pereira

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Currently, a small number of diseases, particularly cardiovascular (CVDs, oncologic (ODs, neurodegenerative (NDDs, chronic respiratory diseases, as well as diabetes, form a severe burden to most of the countries worldwide. Hence, there is an urgent need for development of efficient diagnostic tools, particularly those enabling reliable detection of diseases, at their early stages, preferably using non-invasive approaches. Breath analysis is a non-invasive approach relying only on the characterisation of volatile composition of the exhaled breath (EB that in turn reflects the volatile composition of the bloodstream and airways and therefore the status and condition of the whole organism metabolism. Advanced sampling procedures (solid-phase and needle traps microextraction coupled with modern analytical technologies (proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry, selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, ion mobility spectrometry, e-noses, etc. allow the characterisation of EB composition to an unprecedented level. However, a key challenge in EB analysis is the proper statistical analysis and interpretation of the large and heterogeneous datasets obtained from EB research. There is no standard statistical framework/protocol yet available in literature that can be used for EB data analysis towards discovery of biomarkers for use in a typical clinical setup. Nevertheless, EB analysis has immense potential towards development of biomarkers for the early disease diagnosis of diseases.

Influence of air pollution on exhaled carbon monoxide levels in smokers and non-smokers. A prospective cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Maga, Mikołaj; Janik, Maciej K; Wachsmann, Agnieszka; Chrząstek-Janik, Olga; Koziej, Mateusz; Bajkowski, Mateusz; Maga, Paweł; Tyrak, Katarzyna; Wójcik, Krzysztof; Gregorczyk-Maga, Iwona; Niżankowski, Rafał

2017-01-01

The poor air quality and cigarette smoking are the most important reasons for increased carbon monoxide (CO) level in exhaled air. However, the influence of high air pollution concentration in big cities on the exhaled CO level has not been well studied yet. To evaluate the impact of smoking habit and air pollution in the place of living on the level of CO in exhaled air. Citizens from two large cities and one small town in Poland were asked to complete a survey disclosing their place of residence, education level, work status and smoking habits. Subsequently, the CO level in their exhaled air was measured. Air quality data, obtained from the Regional Inspectorates of Environmental Protection, revealed the differences in atmospheric CO concentration between locations. 1226 subjects were divided into 4 groups based on their declared smoking status and place of living. The average CO level in exhaled air was significantly higher in smokers than in non-smokers (p<0.0001) as well as in non-smokers from big cities than non-smokers from small ones (p<0.0001). Created model showed that non-smokers from big cities have odds ratio of 125.3 for exceeding CO cutoff level of 4ppm compared to non-smokers from small towns. The average CO level in exhaled air is significantly higher in smokers than non-smokers. Among non-smokers, the average exhaled CO level is significantly higher in big city than small town citizens. These results suggest that permanent exposure to an increased concentration of air pollution and cigarette smoking affect the level of exhaled CO. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of Air Stability on the Dispersal of Exhaled Contaminant in Rooms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xu, Chunwen; Gong, Guangcai; Nielsen, Peter V.

2013-01-01

the manikin, indicating that the person who exhales the contaminant may not be polluted by himself as the protective effect of the thermal boundary layer around the body, especially in stable condition with two concentration zones and clean air drawn from the inlets. However, other persons facing......Experiments are conducted in a full-scale chamber equipped with whole floor and whole ceiling supply or exhaust to form approximately zero and larger temperature gradients corresponding to unstable and stable air conditions. It can be observed that the air with smoke exhaled from a life...

Rapid shallow breathing

Science.gov (United States)

Tachypnea; Breathing - rapid and shallow; Fast shallow breathing; Respiratory rate - rapid and shallow ... Shallow, rapid breathing has many possible medical causes, including: Asthma Blood clot in an artery in the ...

Elimination of Drifts in Long-Duration Monitoring for Apnea-Hypopnea of Human Respiration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Jiang

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This paper reports a methodology to eliminate an uncertain baseline drift in respiratory monitoring using a thermal airflow sensor exposed in a high humidity environment. Human respiratory airflow usually contains a large amount of moisture (relative humidity, RH > 85%. Water vapors in breathing air condense gradually on the surface of the sensor so as to form a thin water film that leads to a significant sensor drift in long-duration respiratory monitoring. The water film is formed by a combination of condensation and evaporation, and therefore the behavior of the humidity drift is complicated. Fortunately, the exhale and inhale responses of the sensor exhibit distinguishing features that are different from the humidity drift. Using a wavelet analysis method, we removed the baseline drift of the sensor and successfully recovered the respiratory waveform. Finally, we extracted apnea-hypopnea events from the respiratory signals monitored in whole-night sleeps of patients and compared them with golden standard polysomnography (PSG results.

Determination of Carbonyl Compounds in Exhaled Cigarette Smoke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moldoveanu S

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the findings on a quantitative evaluation of carbonyl levels in exhaled cigarette smoke from human subjects. The cigarettes evaluated include products with 5.0 mg ‘tar’, 10.6 mg ‘tar’ and 16.2 mg ‘tar’, where ‘tar’ is defined as the weight of total wet particulate matter (TPM minus the weight of nicotine and water, and the cigarettes are smoked following U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC recommendations. The measured levels of carbonyls in the exhaled smoke were compared with calculated yields of carbonyls in the inhaled smoke and a retention efficiency was obtained. The number of human subjects included a total of ten smokers for the 10.6 mg ‘tar’, five for the 16.2 mg ‘tar’, and five for the 5.0 mg ‘tar’ product, each subject smoking three cigarettes. The analyzed carbonyl compounds included several aldehydes (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, propionaldehyde, crotonaldehyde and n-butyraldehyde, and two ketones (acetone and 2-butanone. The smoke collection from the human subjects was vacuum assisted. Exhaled smoke was collected on Cambridge pads pretreated with a solution of dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC analysis of the dinitrophenylhydrazones of the carbonyl compounds. The cigarette butts from the smokers were collected and analyzed for nicotine. The nicotine levels for the cigarette butts from the smokers were used to calculate the level of carbonyls in the inhaled smoke, based on calibration curves. These were generated separately by analyzing the carbonyls in smoke and the nicotine in the cigarette butts obtained by machine smoking under different puffing regimes. The comparison of the level of carbonyl compounds in exhaled smoke with that from the inhaled smoke showed high retention of all the carbonyls. The retention of aldehydes was above 95% for all three different ‘tar’ levels cigarettes. The ketones were retained with a

Measurement of radon exhalation rate in various building materials and soil samples

Science.gov (United States)

Bala, Pankaj; Kumar, Vinod; Mehra, Rohit

2017-03-01

Indoor radon is considered as one of the potential dangerous radioactive elements. Common building materials and soil are the major source of this radon gas in the indoor environment. In the present study, the measurement of radon exhalation rate in the soil and building material samples of Una and Hamirpur districts of Himachal Pradesh has been done with solid state alpha track detectors, LR-115 type-II plastic track detectors. The radon exhalation rate for the soil samples varies from 39.1 to 91.2 mBq kg-1 h-1 with a mean value 59.7 mBq kg-1 h-1. Also the radium concentration of the studied area is found and it varies from 30.6 to 51.9 Bq kg-1 with a mean value 41.6 Bq kg-1. The exhalation rate for the building material samples varies from 40.72 (sandstone) to 81.40 mBq kg-1 h-1 (granite) with a mean value of 59.94 mBq kg-1 h-1.

Radon mass exhalation rate in soil samples at South Bengaluru city, Karnataka, India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poojitha, C.G.; Pranesha, T.S.; Ganesh, K.E.; Sahoo, B.K.; Sapra, B.K.

2017-01-01

Radon mass exhalation rate in soil samples collected from different locations of South Bengaluru city were measured using scintillation based Smart radon thoron monitor (RnDuo). It has been observed that the mass exhalation rate estimated due to presence of radon concentration in soil samples ranges from 39.18 - 265.58 mBq/kg/h with an average value of 115.64 mBq/kg/h. Finally we compare our results with similar investigation from different parts of India. (author)

Condensation model for the ESBWR passive condensers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Revankar, S. T.; Zhou, W.; Wolf, B.; Oh, S.

2012-01-01

In the General Electric's Economic simplified boiling water reactor (GE-ESBWR) the passive containment cooling system (PCCS) plays a major role in containment pressure control in case of an loss of coolant accident. The PCCS condenser must be able to remove sufficient energy from the reactor containment to prevent containment from exceeding its design pressure following a design basis accident. There are three PCCS condensation modes depending on the containment pressurization due to coolant discharge; complete condensation, cyclic venting and flow through mode. The present work reviews the models and presents model predictive capability along with comparison with existing data from separate effects test. The condensation models in thermal hydraulics code RELAP5 are also assessed to examine its application to various flow modes of condensation. The default model in the code predicts complete condensation well, and basically is Nusselt solution. The UCB model predicts through flow well. None of condensation model in RELAP5 predict complete condensation, cyclic venting, and through flow condensation consistently. New condensation correlations are given that accurately predict all three modes of PCCS condensation. (authors)

Exertion in Kangoo Jumps Aerobic: Evaluation and Interpretation Using Spectroscopic Technique Determinations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Popa

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Laser photoacoustic spectroscopy (LPAS is growing quickly in its applications to real world problems—one of the problems is to prevent obesity—being a candidate technology for breath analysis applications. The ongoing paper is aiming to investigate the evaluation of oxidative stress in womens practicing Kangoo Jumps (KJ aerobics. Because it is not possible to directly measure free radicals in the body, we approach that by measuring the by-products (breath ethylene that result from free radical reactions. We found out that the mixture of exhaled breath in women's after the KJ exercises contains low concentration of ethylene compared to the exhaled breath of the women before the start of exercise program. This result can add valuable information to the contribution to reduce the generation of prooxidants during and after KJ aerobics.

Calibration of track detectors and measurement of radon exhalation rate from solid samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, Ajay Kumar; Jojo, P.J.; Prasad, Rajendra; Khan, A.J.; Ramachandran, T.V.

1997-01-01

CR-39 and LR-115 type II track detectors to be used for radon exhalation measurements have been calibrated. The configurations fitted with detectors in Can technique in the open cup mode are cylindrical plastic cup (PC) and conical plastic cup (CPC). The experiment was performed in radon exposure chamber having monodisperse aerosols of 0.2 μm size, to find the relationship between track density and the radon concentration. The calibration factors for PC and CPC type dosimeters with LR-115 type II detector were found to be 0.056 and 0.083 tracks cm -2 d -1 (Bqm -3 ) -1 respectively, while with CR-39 detector the values were 0.149 and 0.150 tracks cm -2 d -1 (Bq m -3 ) -1 . Employing the Can technique, measurements of exhalation rates from solid samples used as construction materials, are undertaken. Radon exhalation rate is found to be minimum in cement samples while in fly ash it is not enhanced as compared to coal samples. (author)

Spirometry effects on conventional and multiple flow exhaled nitric oxide in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Eckel, Sandrah P; Linn, William S; Salam, Muhammad T; Bastain, Theresa M; Zhang, Yue; Rappaport, Edward B; Liu, Meng; Berhane, Kiros

2015-03-01

Clinical and research settings often require sequencing multiple respiratory tests in a brief visit. Guidelines recommend measuring the concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) before spirometry, but evidence for a spirometry carryover effect on FeNO is mixed. Only one study has investigated spirometry carryover effects on multiple flow FeNO analysis. The objective of this study was to evaluate evidence for carryover effects of recent spirometry on three exhaled NO summary measures: FeNO at 50 ml/s, airway wall NO flux [J'awNO] and alveolar NO concentration [CANO] in a population-based sample of schoolchildren. Participants were 1146 children (191 with asthma), ages 12-15, from the Southern California Children's Health Study who performed spirometry and multiple flow FeNO on the same day. Approximately, half the children performed spirometry first. Multiple linear regression was used to estimate differences in exhaled NO summary measures associated with recent spirometry testing, adjusting for potential confounders. In the population-based sample, we found no evidence of spirometry carryover effects. However, for children with asthma, there was a suggestion that exhaled NO summary measures assessed ≤6 min after spirometry were lower (FeNO: 25.8% lower, 95% CI: -6.2%, 48.2%; J'awNO: 15.1% lower 95% CI: -26.5%, 43.0%; and CANO 0.43 parts per billion lower, 95% CI: -0.12, 0.98). In clinical settings, it is prudent to assess multiple flow FeNO before spirometry. In studies of healthy subjects, it may not be necessary to assess FeNO first.

Rapid "breath-print" of liver cirrhosis by proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A pilot study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Filomena Morisco

Full Text Available UNLABELLED: The aim of the present work was to test the potential of Proton Transfer Reaction Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS in the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis and the assessment of disease severity by direct analysis of exhaled breath. Twenty-six volunteers have been enrolled in this study: 12 patients (M/F 8/4, mean age 70.5 years, min-max 42-80 years with liver cirrhosis of different etiologies and at different severity of disease and 14 healthy subjects (M/F 5/9, mean age 52.3 years, min-max 35-77 years. Real time breath analysis was performed on fasting subjects using a buffered end-tidal on-line sampler directly coupled to a PTR-ToF-MS. Twelve volatile organic compounds (VOCs resulted significantly differently in cirrhotic patients (CP compared to healthy controls (CTRL: four ketones (2-butanone, 2- or 3- pentanone, C8-ketone, C9-ketone, two terpenes (monoterpene, monoterpene related, four sulphur or nitrogen compounds (sulfoxide-compound, S-compound, NS-compound, N-compound and two alcohols (heptadienol, methanol. Seven VOCs (2-butanone, C8-ketone, a monoterpene, 2,4-heptadienol and three compounds containing N, S or NS resulted significantly differently in compensate cirrhotic patients (Child-Pugh A; CP-A and decompensated cirrhotic subjects (Child-Pugh B+C; CP-B+C. ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis was performed considering three contrast groups: CP vs CTRL, CP-A vs CTRL and CP-A vs CP-B+C. In these comparisons monoterpene and N-compound showed the best diagnostic performance. CONCLUSIONS: Breath analysis by PTR-ToF-MS was able to distinguish cirrhotic patients from healthy subjects and to discriminate those with well compensated liver disease from those at more advanced severity stage. A breath-print of liver cirrhosis was assessed for the first time.

Imposed Work of Breathing and Breathing Comfort of Nonintubated Volunteers Breathing with Three Portable Ventilators and a Critical Care Ventilator

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Austin, Paul

2001-01-01

.... The purpose of this study was to assess the imposed inspiratory work of breathing and breathing comfort of nonintubated healthy volunteers breathing spontaneously through three portable ventilators...

Condensers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andrieux, M.B.

1984-01-01

Characteristics of the condenser cooling waters of various French 900 MW nuclear power plants. Design and description of various types of condensers: condensers feeded directly with river water, condensers feeded by cooling towers, condensers feeded with sea water of brackish water. Presentation of the main problems encountered with the brass bundles (ammoniacal corrosion, erosion of the peripheral tubes, vibrations of the tubes), with the titanium bundles, with the tubular plates, the tubes-tubular plates assemblies, the coatings of the condenser water chamber (sea water), the vapor by-pass and with the air inlet. Analysis of the in service performances such as condensation pressure, oxygen content and availability [fr

A Pilot Study to Assess Solanesol Levels in Exhaled Cigarette Smoke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moldoveanu SC

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the results obtained during the measurement of the level of solanesol in exhaled cigarette smoke from human subjects. The study was performed with three different cigarettes with U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC ‘tar’ values of 5.0 mg, 10.6 mg, and 16.2 mg. The number of human subjects was ten smokers for each of the evaluated products, each subject smoking three cigarettes within one hour. The exhaled smoke was collected using a vacuum assisted procedure that avoids strain in exhaling, and the solanesol was analyzed using an original high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC technique. The cigarette butts from the smokers were collected and also analyzed for solanesol. The results obtained for the cigarette butts from the smokers were used to calculate the level of solanesol delivered to the smoker, based on calibration curves. These curves were generated separately by analyzing the solanesol in smoke and in the cigarette butts obtained by machine smoking under different puffing regimes. Knowing the levels of solanesol delivered to the smoker and the exhaled levels it was possible to calculate the retention and retention % of this compound from mainstream smoke for different cigarettes types. The amount of retained solanesol is the lowest for the 5.0 mg ‘tar’ product, and the highest for the 16.2 mg ‘tar’ product, although there is not much difference between the 10.6 mg ‘tar’ product and the 16.2 mg ‘tar’ product. For the 10.6 mg ‘tar’ cigarettes the retention % was between 60% and 72%, for the 5.0 mg product the retention % was slightly lower ranging between 53% and 70%, while for the 16.2 mg ‘tar’ product, the retention % was slightly higher ranging between 62% and 82%.

Recent developments in human biomonitoring: non-invasive assessment of target tissue dose and effects of pneumotoxic metals.

Science.gov (United States)

Mutti, A; Corradi, M

2006-01-01

Tobacco smoke and polluted environments substantially increase the lung burden of pneumotoxic chemicals, particularly pneumotoxic metallic elements. To achieve a better understanding of the early events between exposure to inhaled toxicants and the onset of adverse effects on the lung, the characterization of dose at the target organ would be extremely useful. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC), obtained by cooling exhaled air under conditions of spontaneous breathing, is a novel technique that could provide a non-invasive assessment of pulmonary pathobiology. Considering that EBC is water practically free of interfering solutes, it represents an ideal biological matrix for elemental characterization. Published data show that several toxic metals and trace elements are detectable in EBC, raising the possibility of using this medium to quantify the lung tissue dose of pneumotoxic substances. This novel approach may represent a significant advance over the analysis of alternative media (blood, serum, urine, hair), which are not as reliable (owing to interfering substances in the complex matrix) and reflect systemic rather than lung (target tissue) levels of both toxic metals and essential trace elements. Data obtained among workers occupationally exposed to either hard metals or chromium (VI) and in smokers with or without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are reviewed to show that--together with biomarkers of exposure--EBC also allows the simultaneous quantification of biomarkers of effect directly sampled from the epithelial lining fluid, thus providing novel insights on both kinetic and dynamic aspects of metal toxicology.

Increased exhaled nitric oxide predicts new-onset rhinitis and persistent rhinitis in adolescents without allergic symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Malinovschi, A; Alving, K; Kalm-Stephens, P; Janson, C; Nordvall, L

2012-03-01

The fraction of nitric oxide in exhaled air (FE(NO)) is increased in rhinitis and asthma. We have previously suggested that elevated FE(NO) levels in the absence of asthma symptoms may be a sign of 'early asthma'. In the present study, we hypothesize that elevated exhaled NO levels may also precede rhinitis symptoms. To investigate in a cohort of adolescents whether or not increased exhaled NO levels at the age of 13-14 years predicted new-onset or persistent rhinitis within a 4-year period. A total of 959 randomly selected adolescents (13-14 years) completed a questionnaire on respiratory symptoms at baseline and follow-up, 4 years later. Exhaled NO was measured at baseline. After exclusion of subjects with asthma diagnosis or asthma symptoms at baseline, 657 participants were eligible for the present study. Higher FE(NO) levels at baseline were associated with increased risk for new-onset (P = 0.009) and persistent rhinitis (P = 0.03) within a 4-year period. The risk of new-onset rhinitis was 2.32 (1.23, 4.37) [OR (95% CI)] times higher if FE(NO) > 90th percentile of the group without rhinitis at baseline. This increased risk for new-onset rhinitis was significant [2.49 (1.24, 5.01)] after excluding subjects with allergic symptoms. The risk of persistent rhinitis was 5.11 (1.34, 19.57) times higher if FE(NO) > 90th percentile of the group without rhinitis at baseline. Elevated exhaled nitric oxide levels predicted incident and persistent rhinitis in this population-based study of adolescents. Moreover, these findings were consistent after excluding subjects with allergic symptoms. Thus, it appears that elevation of exhaled NO precedes airway symptoms and predicts development of rhinitis in subjects without allergic symptoms or family history of allergic disease. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Effect of Inhaled Budesonide on Interleukin-4 and Interleukin-6 in Exhaled Breath Condensate of Asthmatic Patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Hua Chi

2016-01-01

Conclusions: The concentration of IL-4 in the EBC of asthmatic patients decreased gradually with ICS treatment. Measurement of IL-4 in EBC could be useful to monitor airway inflammation in asthmatics.

Increased 8-isoprostane, a marker of oxidative stress in exhaled breath condensate in subjects with asbestos exposure

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelclová, D.; Fenclová, Z.; Kačer, P.; Kuzma, Marek; Navrátil, Tomáš; Lebedová, J.

2008-01-01

Roč. 46, č. 5 (2008), s. 484-489 ISSN 0019-8366 R&D Projects: GA MZd NR9338 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50200510; CEZ:AV0Z40400503 Keywords : asbestos * asbestosis * pleural hyalinosis Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology Impact factor: 0.745, year: 2008

Oxidative Stress Markers in Exhaled Breath Condensate in Lung Fibroses Are Not Significantly Affected by Systemic Diseases

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pelclová, D.; Fenclová, Z.; Syslová, K.; Vlčková, Š.; Lebedová, J.; Pecha, O.; Běláček, J.; Navrátil, Tomáš; Kuzma, Marek; Kačer, P.

2011-01-01

Roč. 49, č. 6 (2011), s. 746-754 ISSN 0019-8366 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503; CEZ:AV0Z50200510 Keywords : 8-iso-prostaglandin F-2 alpha * 4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenale * Malondialdehyde Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 0.940, year: 2011

Correlation between radon exhalation and radium content in granite samples used as construction material in Saudi Arabia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Al-Jarallah, M.I. [Department of Physics, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia)]. E-mail: mibrahim@kfupm.edu.sa; Fazal-ur-Rehman [Department of Physics, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia); Musazay, M.S. [Department of Physics, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia); Aksoy, A. [Department of Physics, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261 (Saudi Arabia)

2005-11-15

Measurements of radon exhalation for a total of 205 selected samples of construction materials used in Saudi Arabia were carried out using an active radon gas analyzer with an emanation container. It was found that granite samples were the main source of radon exhalation. The radon exhalation rates per unit area from these granite samples varied from below the minimum detection limit up to 13.1Bqm{sup -2}h{sup -1} with an average of 1.5 +/-1.9(1{sigma})Bqm{sup -2}h{sup -1}. The radium contents of 27 granite samples were measured using an HPGe-based {gamma} spectroscopy setup. The {sup 226}Ra content of the granites varied from below the minimum detection limit up to 297Bqkg{sup -1}, with an average of 83+/-73(1{sigma})Bqkg{sup -1}. The linear correlation coefficient between exhaled radon and radium content was found to be 0.90.

'Breath figure' PLGA films as implant coatings for controlled drug release

Science.gov (United States)

Ponnusamy, Thiruselvam

The breath figure method is a versatile and facile approach of generating ordered micro and nanoporous structures in polymeric materials. When a polymer solution (dissolved in a high vapor pressure organic solvent) is evaporated out in the presence of a moist air stream, the evaporative cooling effect causes the condensation and nucleation of water droplets onto the polymer solution surface. This leads to the formation of an imprinted porous structure upon removal of the residual solvent and water. The facile removal of the water droplet template leaving its structural imprint is a specifically appealing aspect of the breath figure film technology. The first part of the dissertation work involves the fabrication of drug loaded breath figure thin films and its utilization as a controlled drug release carrier and biomaterial scaffold. In a single fabrication step, single layer/multilayer porous thin films were designed and developed by combining the breath figure process and a modified spin or dip coating technique. Using biodegradable polymers such as poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG), drug loaded films were fabricated onto FDA approved medical devices (the Glaucoma drainage device and the Surgical hernia mesh). The porosity of the films is in the range of 2-4 microm as characterized by scanning electron microscope. The drug coated medical implants were characterized for their surface and bulk morphology, the degradation rate of the film, drug release rate and cell cytotoxicity. The results suggest that the use of breath figure morphologies in biodegradable polymer films adds an additional level of control to drug release. In comparison to non-porous films, the breath figure films showed an increased degradation and enhanced drug release. Furthermore, the porous nature of the film was investigated as a biomaterial scaffold to construct three dimensional in vitro tissue model systems. The breath figure film with interconnected

Physiological techniques for detecting expiratory flow limitation during tidal breathing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N.G. Koulouris

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD often exhale along the same flow–volume curve during quiet breathing as they do during the forced expiratory vital capacity manoeuvre, and this has been taken as an indicator of expiratory flow limitation at rest (EFLT. Therefore, EFLT, namely attainment of maximal expiratory flow during tidal expiration, occurs when an increase in transpulmonary pressure causes no increase in expiratory flow. EFLT leads to small airway injury and promotes dynamic pulmonary hyperinflation, with concurrent dyspnoea and exercise limitation. In fact, EFLT occurs commonly in COPD patients (mainly in Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease III and IV stage, in whom the latter symptoms are common, but is not exclusive to COPD, since it can also be detected in other pulmonary and nonpulmonary diseases like asthma, acute respiratory distress syndrome, heart failure and obesity, etc. The existing up to date physiological techniques of assessing EFLT are reviewed in the present work. Among the currently available techniques, the negative expiratory pressure has been validated in a wide variety of settings and disorders. Consequently, it should be regarded as a simple, noninvasive, practical and accurate new technique.