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

Inventors

Verbeck, IV, Guido Fridolin • Redmond, John • Wing, Tim

Assignees

Inspectir Systems LLC • 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 system for analyzing a breath sample includes a sampling chamber with an inlet configured to receive the breath sample. A heating element introduces heat within the sampling chamber, and a molecule collector disposed within the sampling chamber adheres to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in the breath sample. The molecule collector releases the VOCs via a separation process subsequent to introducing the heat within the sampling chamber, where the separation process releases one or more target VOCs at a different time than one or more non-target VOCs.

The system further includes an analysis device with a Terahertz (THz) spectrometer. The THz spectrometer includes a femtosecond pulsed laser beam split into a pump beam and a probe beam, and the system introduces the pump beam as an excitation signal within the sampling chamber subsequent to the release of the VOCs from the molecule collector. The probe beam identifies, based at least in part on one or more characteristics associated with excitation of the one or more target VOCs released from the molecule collector, the one or more target VOCs from among the VOCs present in the sampling chamber, and outputs information representative of the one or more target VOCs.

A computing device communicatively coupled to the analysis device includes one or more processors and a memory, and generates information quantifying a concentration of each of the one or more target VOCs based on the information outputted by the analysis device. The described approach is paired with rapid on-site breath analysis using portable field usability and contamination control via removable/disposable sampling cartridges and valves, and supports identification and quantitation for target VOCs including cannabinoids and opioid-related VOCs.

Claims Coverage

The independent claims are clm-00001 and clm-00010. Each independent claim contains a core set of inventive features: breath-sample VOC capture in a sampling chamber using a molecule collector, heat-induced time-separated release for target versus non-target VOCs, THz spectrometer detection with a femtosecond pump/probe scheme, and generation of concentration information from the detected output. In clm-00010, the independent claim is a corresponding method version with the same THz detection structure and output/quantification functions.

Across the independent claims, the inventive concept centers on collecting breath VOCs on a molecule collector in a sampling chamber, using heating to trigger a time-separated separation process that releases target VOCs at different times than non-target VOCs, and identifying the target VOCs using a THz spectrometer with a femtosecond pump/probe excitation scheme, followed by generating concentration information from the THz output.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications