Alveolar Air Volatile Organic Compound Extractor for Clinical Breath Sampling

Alveolar air Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) extractor is a handheld breath-sampling device for clinical breath analysis. The device consists two main components: (1) An alveolar air separator, (2) A VOC extractor. The alveolar air separator splits exhaled air based on total exhaled air volume directing alveolar air towards the VOC extractor and dead space air to into an exhaust channel. The VOC extractor collects the VOCs from alveolar air into a modified Sold Phase Micro Extraction (SPME) filament. Feasibility of using the SPME filament to collect a quantifiable breath sample directly from exhaled breath is experimentally validated. Exhaled breath acetone is quantified using alveolar air VOC extractor and a GC/MS system.