Techniques for rapid detection and quantitation of volatile organic compounds (VOCS) using breath samples

Inventors

Verbeck, IV, Guido Fridolin • Redmond, John • Wing, Tim C. • Keiser, Luke

Assignees

Inspectir Systems LLC • Inspectir Systems Inc • University of North Texas

Abstract

An exemplary breath analysis system may include a sampling chamber having a molecule collector disposed therein. The molecule detector may be configured such that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in a breath sample introduced to the sampling chamber adhere to the molecule collector. A heating element may introduce heat within the sampling chamber, causing release of at least a portion of the VOCs adhered to the molecule collector. An analysis device (e.g., a mass spectrometer or Terahertz (THz) spectrometer) may identify one or more target VOCs from among at least the portion of the VOCs released from the molecule collector and generate an output representative of the identified one or more target VOCs. The output may include information that quantitates a concentration of the one or more target VOCs with respect to a source of the breath sample.

Core Innovation

A method for rapidly analyzing a breath sample includes receiving the breath sample at a sampling chamber via an inlet, where the sampling chamber comprises a molecule collector disposed within the sampling chamber. The molecule collector is configured to adhere to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in the breath sample, and the sampling chamber is heated to release at least a portion of the VOCs from the molecule collector. Concurrently with heating, a vacuum is introduced in a spectrometer.

After the release of at least a portion of the VOCs, an analysis device identifies one or more target VOCs from among the VOCs present in the sampling chamber, employing the spectrometer. The method generates an output representative of the one or more target VOCs, where the output representative comprises information that quantitates a concentration of the one or more target VOCs with respect to a source of the breath sample. Concurrently with generating the output, the method cleans the sampling chamber by further heating the sampling chamber and evacuating the sampling chamber and the spectrometer using the vacuum.

The disclosed system architecture supports a mass spectrometer and a Terahertz (THz) spectrometer integrated with the sampling chamber. In the mass spectrometer configuration, a vacuum pump draws released VOCs into the mass spectrometer while the molecule collector is heated, and the mass spectrometer includes an ionizer, a mass analyzer, and a detector configured to identify one or more target VOCs based on separated one or more ionized fragments. In the THz spectrometer configuration, the vacuum pump draws released VOCs into the THz spectrometer concurrent with heating, and an excitation source introduces an excitation signal within the sampling chamber followed by detector identification of the one or more target VOCs based on one or more characteristics associated with excitation in response to the excitation signal.

Claims Coverage

The partial content provides three independent claims, centered on rapid breath VOC analysis using molecule collection and heating, spectrometer-based identification of target VOCs, generation of an output representative that quantifies concentration relative to the breath source, and cleaning by further heating and evacuation under vacuum concurrently with output generation or identification.

Across the independent claims, the inventive coverage lies in rapidly analyzing breath by collecting VOCs on a molecule collector in a sampling chamber, heating to release VOCs, introducing vacuum in a spectrometer, identifying one or more target VOCs in the spectrometer, generating an output representative that quantitates concentration relative to a breath source, and cleaning by further heating and evacuating under vacuum concurrent with output generation or identification.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications