Volatile Emissions from Compressed Tissue

Since almost every fifth patient treated in hospital care develops pressure ulcers, early identification of risk is important. A non-invasive method for the elucidation of endogenous biomarkers related to pressure ulcers could be an excellent tool for this purpose. We therefore found it of interest to determine if there is a difference in the emissions of volatiles from compressed and uncompressed tissue. The ultimate goal is to find a non-invasive method to obtain an early warning for the risk of developing pressure ulcers for bed-ridden persons. Chemical analysis of the emissions, collected in compresses, was made with gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry and with a chemical sensor array, the so called electronic nose. It was found that the emissions from healthy and hospitalized persons differed significantly irrespective of the site. Within each group there was a clear difference between the compressed and uncompressed site. Peaks that could be certainly deemed as markers of the compression were, however, not identified. Nonetheless, different compounds connected to the application of local mechanical pressure were found. The results obtained with GC-MS reveal the complexity of VOC composition, thus an array of non-selective chemical sensors seems to be a suitable choice for the analysis of skin emission from compressed tissues; it may represent a practical instrument for bed side diagnostics. Results show that the adopted electronic noses are likely sensitive to the total amount of the emission rather than to its composition. The development of a gas sensor-based device requires then the design of sensor receptors adequate to detect the VOCs bouquet typical of pressure. This preliminary experiment evidences the necessity of studies where each given person is followed for a long time in a ward in order to detect the insurgence of specific VOCs pattern changes signalling the occurrence of ulcers.