Breath Analysis

Breath Analysis covers technology design, implementing and running measurements; both in the lab and at point of care. This book will help you get up to speed on the state of the art research in this specialized field, and offers guidance on how best to design this technology and conduct breath analysis. This book primarily focuses on the diagnosis of lung cancer, asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases. The reliability, consistency and utility of the results you get from breath analysis depends on: exhaled breath sampling procedures and tools; gas sensor array technology (sensing material and transducer); and finally medical pertinence and interpretation. This book discusses all of these factors. The approach of this book is to give a step by step procedure synthesizing the state of the art in a flow-chart with the aim of proposing a common and practical language for breath analysis. This book also discusses best practice solutions for the problems you will face such as sample collection, sensor technology, clinical assessment, medical interpretation, and data analysis.

The research field of breath analysis is intrinsically multidisciplinary, merging know-how, competences and skills pertaining to medicine, electronics, sensors, fluid dynamics, chemistry and statistics. This is the first book to provide an overview of the entire field; currently all the relevant research is scattered across journal articles. The aim of this book is to help find a shared path for researchers involved in breath analysis, through a common technological platform and a shared list of standard operating procedures. Breath Analysis is a practical and functional book about how breath analysis will be brought into the clinical practice. The primary audience is Biomedical Engineers and Medical Doctors, but this could also be a useful book for: hospital technicians, hospital and biomedical SME leading figures, and PhD level Engineering and Medicine Students.

1. Breathprinting: what, why, how
2. FIRST STEP: Exhaled breath: catch and store
3. SECOND STEP: Breath analysis: two strategies
4. Sensor systems for breathprinting
5. THIRD STEP: Data analysis
6. FOURTH STEP: Breathrpinting based diagnosis, selected case study
7. FIFTH STEP: Breathprinting roadmap based on expert’s opinion
8. APPENDIX: a review of the current financed projects and initiatives in this field