Breath analyzer spots deadly lung disease faster, more accurately than doctors
CHICAGO. KAZINFORM - A small, portable breath monitor, a gas chromatography system, developed at the University of Michigan (UM) can quickly and accurately detect acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), an often deadly disease that causes fluid to leak into the lungs and demands early diagnosis, Xinhua reports.
Forty-eight patient volunteers at the UM hospital, 21 with ARDS,participated in testing the device.
The device samples a patient's breath through tubing connected to theexhalation port of a mechanical ventilator, and analyzes nearly 100 volatileorganic compounds, biomarkers that can not only detect ARDS, but also determinehow far along the disease is. As treatment begins, the device can monitor itseffectiveness.
The results showed that the device can diagnose ARDS with nearly 90percent accuracy in as little as 30 minutes. Moreover, the speed andcost-effectiveness allow it to essentially serve as a real-time monitor forpatients, helping to focus and adjust treatments in progress.
«We are able to detect the onset and improvement of the conditionbefore traditional changes in X-rays and blood testing would occur,» saidXudong Fan, UM professor of biomedical engineering.
«The most commonly used ARDS prediction tools are only correctabout 18 percent of the time,» Fan added.
ARDS is a severe state of lung inflammation that can be caused bypneumonia, sepsis, trauma, aspiration or a combination of these. It carries ahigh mortality rate. In the United States, 200,000 cases are diagnosed eachyear, resulting in 74,000 deaths.
Many that survive are left with poor lung function and have greatdifficulty returning to routine daily activities.
The research, posted on UM's website on Thursday, has been published inthe journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry.
Photo credit: news.umich.edu