Science & Technology

Exhaled breath is unique fingerprint

By T.K. Randall
April 5, 2013 ·  6 comments

Image Credit: CC 2.0 Colin Mutchler A new study in to the properties of exhaled breath has indicated that it could be used to help diagnose a variety of conditions in much the same way as urine and blood tests. Providing a sample of breath is extremely quick, non-intrusive and can potentially yield results almost immediately. "I don't understand why breath hasn't been a widely used [means of] medical science diagnosis," said study author Renato Zenobi.

The key lies in identifying the unique metabolic contents of a person's breath, a find which could lead to the diagnosis of everything from a lung infection to stomach cancer. "You need to show there is a core individual signal that is stable over time," said Professor Zenobi. "If it changes a lot during the course of the day or after you've had a coffee or smoked a cigarette, you can just forget about it."[!gad]A new study in to the properties of exhaled breath has indicated that it could be used to help diagnose a variety of conditions in much the same way as urine and blood tests. Providing a sample of breath is extremely quick, non-intrusive and can potentially yield results almost immediately. "I don't understand why breath hasn't been a widely used [means of] medical science diagnosis," said study author Renato Zenobi.

The key lies in identifying the unique metabolic contents of a person's breath, a find which could lead to the diagnosis of everything from a lung infection to stomach cancer. "You need to show there is a core individual signal that is stable over time," said Professor Zenobi. "If it changes a lot during the course of the day or after you've had a coffee or smoked a cigarette, you can just forget about it."

Source: BBC News | Comments (6)

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