Techniques for portable 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
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Publication Number
US-11841359-B1
Publication Date
2023-12-12
Expiration Date
Abstract
An exemplary breath analysis system disposed in a portable housing may include a sampling chamber having a molecule collector disposed therein. The molecule collector 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 disposed in the portable housing (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
The invention provides a portable system for analyzing a breath sample. The system includes a portable housing, a sampling chamber disposed within the portable housing, and an inlet deployable from the portable housing to receive a breath sample and provide it to the sampling chamber. The sampling chamber includes a molecule collector configured to adhere volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in the breath sample.
The system further includes a heating mechanism disposed within the portable housing and configured to introduce heat, and/or heat the breath sample, within the sampling chamber. The heating releases at least a portion of the VOCs from the molecule collector, and an analysis device disposed within the portable housing identifies one or more target VOCs from among the VOCs present in the sampling chamber subsequent to release of at least a portion of the VOCs, and generates an output representative of the one or more target VOCs.
To support concurrent release and analysis, the system includes a vacuum pump disposed in the portable housing configured to introduce a vacuum in the analysis device concurrent with heating of the breath sample within the sampling chamber. The heating mechanism and the vacuum pump are also configured to, at least concurrent with generating output representative of the one or more target VOCs, clean the system by further heating the sampling chamber and evacuating the sampling chamber and analysis device using the vacuum.
The disclosed portable breath-analysis approach is motivated by field rapid and quantitative detection, including law-enforcement use cases. The document describes detection of cannabinoids/THC and THC-related metabolites, opioids/opioid metabolites, and disease-related VOC markers such as SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 associated markers. In THz embodiments, the detector identifies target VOCs based on characteristics associated with excitation of VOCs released from the molecule collector.
Claims Coverage
The partial content includes three independent claims, each directed to a portable breath-analysis system using a deployable inlet, a molecule collector for VOC adherence, and a heating mechanism to release VOCs, with analysis via either a mass spectrometer, a THz spectrometer, or a more general analysis device; each includes a vacuum pump and cleaning during output generation.
Portable breath-analysis system with deployable inlet and molecule collector
A portable system for analyzing a breath sample comprising a portable housing, a sampling chamber disposed within the portable housing, a deployable inlet configured to receive a breath sample and provide the breath sample to the sampling chamber, and a molecule collector disposed within the sampling chamber configured to adhere volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in the breath sample.
Heated VOC release with target VOC identification and output generation
A heating mechanism configured to introduce heat, and/or heat the breath sample, within the sampling chamber releasing at least a portion of the VOCs from the molecule collector; an analysis device configured to identify one or more target VOCs from among the VOCs present subsequent to release of at least a portion of the VOCs, and generate an output representative of the one or more target VOCs.
Vacuum-assisted concurrent analysis and system cleaning
A vacuum pump configured to introduce a vacuum in the analysis device concurrent with heating of the breath sample, within the sampling chamber, where the heating mechanism and the vacuum pump are configured to clean the system by further heating the sampling chamber and evacuating the sampling chamber and analysis device using the vacuum at least concurrent with generating the output representative of the one or more target VOCs.
Portable mass spectrometer analysis with ionization, separation, and detection
A mass spectrometer comprising an ionizer configured to ionize at least the portion of VOCs subsequent to release from the molecule collector to produce one or more ionized fragments, a mass analyzer configured to separate the one or more ionized fragments, and a detector configured to identify the one or more target VOCs based on the separated one or more ionized fragments.
Computing device generating and displaying output representative of target VOCs
A computing device communicatively coupled to the mass spectrometer and communicatively coupled to an output device, the computing device comprising processors configured to generate the output representative of the one or more target VOCs based on information associated with the one or more target VOCs identified by the detector and display the output at the output device.
Terahertz spectrometer identification based on excitation-related characteristics
A Terahertz (THz) spectrometer comprising an excitation source configured to introduce an excitation signal within the sampling chamber subsequent to the release of at least a portion of the VOCs from the molecule collector, and a detector configured to identify the one or more target VOCs based on one or more characteristics associated with excitation of at least the portion of the VOCs released from the molecule collector in response to the excitation signal.
Across the independent claims, the core inventive structure is a portable breath-analysis system that collects VOCs on a molecule collector, heats the sampling chamber to release VOCs, applies a vacuum during analysis, and cleans the system via further heating and vacuum evacuation while generating an output representative of identified target VOCs; analysis is performed using either a mass spectrometer architecture or a THz spectrometer architecture.
Stated Advantages
Documented Applications
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