Simultaneous measurement of inhaled air and exhaled breath by “Double-MCC/IMS”. A new method for breath analysis. Results of a feasibility study

Abstract

The high sensitivity of methods, which are applied in breath analysis, entails a high risk of detecting analytes which do not derive from endogenous production. Consequentially, it appears useful to have knowledge about the composition of inhaled air and to include alveolar gradients into interpretation.The current study aimed to standardise sampling procedures in breath analysis, especially with multicapillary column ion-mobility spectrometry (MCC-IMS), by applying a simultaneous registration of inhaled air and exhaled breath.A “Double MCC-IMS” device, which for the first time allows simultaneous analysis of inhaled air and exhaled breath, was developed and tested in 18 healthy individuals. For this two BreathDiscoverys® (BDs) were coupled with each other.Measurements of inhaled air and exhaled breath in 18 healthy individuals (mean age 46±10.9 years; 9 men, 9 women) identified 35 different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for further analysis. Not all out of these had positive alveolar gradients and could be regarded as endogenous VOCs; 16 VOCs had a positive alveolar gradient in mean, 19 VOCs a negative one. 12 VOCs were positive in more than 12 of the healthy subjects.For the first time in our understanding a method is described, which enables simultaneous measurement of inhaled air and exhaled breath. This facilitates the calculation of alveolar gradients and selection of endogenous VOCs for exhaled breath analysis. Only a part of VOCs in exhaled breath are truly endogenous VOCs. The observation of different and varying polarities of the alveolar gradients needs further analysis.