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
Interested in licensing this patent?
MTEC can help explore whether this patent might be available for licensing for your application.
Publication Number
US-11841372-B1
Publication Date
2023-12-12
Expiration Date
Abstract
An exemplary breath analysis system 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 (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 relates to analyzing a breath sample by receiving the breath sample at a sampling chamber via an inlet, wherein 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, so that VOCs are collected within the sampling chamber. Heat is then introduced within the sampling chamber via a heating mechanism to release at least a portion of the VOCs from the molecule collector.
Concurrent with introducing heat, a vacuum is introduced in a spectrometer while an analysis device identifies and quantitates one or more target VOCs from among the VOCs present in the sampling chamber subsequent to release of at least the portion of the VOCs. The identification and quantitation are based, at least in part, on correlation of presence and quantity of the one or more target VOCs to a blood level of a foreign substance of interest. An output representative of the one or more target VOCs is generated, 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 and the blood level of the foreign substance of interest.
After generating the output representative, the sampling chamber is cleaned by further heating the sampling chamber and evacuating the sampling chamber and the spectrometer using the vacuum. The invention further includes implementations in which target VOCs include metabolites, metabolite markers, ketones, aldehydes, and combinations indicative of SARS-CoV-2 and/or Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 and/or Δ-9-THC, as well as cannabinoid and opioid related metabolites or metabolite markers. Processing refinements include Fourier transform background noise elimination and using spectrometers such as a mass spectrometer or a THz spectrometer for identifying and quantitating the target VOCs.
Claims Coverage
The document provides three independent claims: a breath-sample analysis method, a breath-sample analysis system, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium implementing operations. Across these claims, the core inventive features include VOC collection in a heated sampling chamber, concurrent vacuum introduction in a spectrometer during VOC release, correlation-based identification and quantitation of target VOCs relative to a blood level of a foreign substance of interest, generation of an output quantifying concentration with respect to a breath source and blood level, and concurrent cleaning by further heating and evacuating the sampling chamber and spectrometer.
Molecule-collector sampling chamber for VOC adhesion
A method/system with a sampling chamber comprising a molecule collector disposed within the sampling chamber, wherein the molecule collector is configured to adhere to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in the breath sample.
Heating to release collected VOCs
A method/system activating a heating mechanism to introduce heat within the sampling chamber, releasing at least a portion of the VOCs from the molecule collector, subsequent to a breath sample being provided to the sampling chamber.
Concurrent spectrometer vacuum during VOC release
Concurrent with introducing heat within the sampling chamber, a vacuum is introduced in a spectrometer, and a vacuum pump is configured to introduce a vacuum in the spectrometer concurrent with introducing the heat within the sampling chamber and draw at least a portion of the VOCs released from the molecule collector by the heating of the sampling chamber into the spectrometer.
Correlation-based identification and quantitation of target VOCs
Identifying and quantitating one or more target VOCs from among the VOCs present in the sampling chamber subsequent to release of at least the portion of the VOCs from the molecule collector, based, at least in part, on correlation of presence and quantity of the one or more target VOCs to a blood level of a foreign substance of interest.
Output quantifying concentration relative to breath source and blood level
Generating an output representative of the one or more target VOCs, wherein 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 and the blood level of the foreign substance of interest.
Concurrent cleaning by further heating and evacuation
Cleaning the sampling chamber concurrent with at least generating the output representative of the one or more target VOCs by further heating the sampling chamber and evacuating the sampling chamber and the spectrometer using the vacuum.
Non-transitory instructions to perform the analysis operations
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations for analyzing a breath sample including activating the heating mechanism, introducing vacuum in the spectrometer concurrent with heating, identifying and quantitating the one or more target VOCs based on correlation to a blood level, generating the output representative with concentration information, and cleaning by further heating and evacuating the sampling chamber and spectrometer.
The independent claims collectively cover (i) a molecule-collector sampling chamber for VOC adhesion, (ii) heating to release collected VOCs, (iii) concurrent vacuum introduction in a spectrometer to draw released VOCs for analysis, (iv) correlation-based identification and quantitation of target VOCs relative to a blood level of a foreign substance of interest, (v) generation of an output quantifying target VOC concentration relative to the breath source and the blood level, and (vi) cleaning via further heating and evacuation of the sampling chamber and spectrometer.
Stated Advantages
Not explicitly described in patent.
Documented Applications
Not explicitly described in patent.
Interested in licensing this patent?