What our breath reveals

You run Zurich Exhalomics in partnership with your colleague Renato Zenobi, ETH Professor of Analytical Chemistry. Can you explain the project?

EMMA SLACK – We want analyses of exhaled air to become a valuable tool for medical practice. For our work, we use a mass spectrometer to determine a large variety of exhaled molecules – the exhalome. To put it simply, our aim is for a person to blow into a pipe and we immediately have key data about their state of health. Compared to diagnoses from blood analyses, this method is non-invasive and we have the results in almost real time.

What can breath analyses be used for?

Eleven interdisciplinary teams of biologists, clinicians and engineers are currently researching all kinds of possible applications, ranging from disease diagnosis to medication intake monitoring to dietary recommendations. One area of focus is the diagnosis of lung diseases such as asthma and infections in cystic fibrosis. Three hospitals are currently collecting data to create respiratory profiles for these diseases. This offers particular hope for paediatric medicine, as it’s difficult or even impossible for children to describe their symptoms. The method could also be used to monitor rare genetic diseases – such as urea cycle disorder, a metabolic condition that, if left untreated, can lead to severe brain damage – in real time. This would be particularly valuable in the early stages of newborn babies, as their exhaled air can be measured in the incubator, avoiding the need for invasive blood sampling. Another project that’s already at an advanced stage focusses on monitoring obesity therapy.

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