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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Fast and Accurate Exhaled Breath Ammonia Measurement
Published on: June 11, 2014
Temperature changes in exhaled breath condensate collection devices affect observed acetone concentrations
Bryan R Loyola1, Abhinav Bhushan, Michael Schivo
1Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Thermal changes during breath condensate collection affect biomarker measurements. Standardizing collection methods is crucial to avoid artifacts in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) analysis for disease detection.
Area of Science:
- Biomarker Discovery
- Analytical Chemistry
- Medical Diagnostics
Background:
- Chemical analysis of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) offers a non-invasive approach for disease biomarker identification.
- Existing EBC collection methods have limitations, and potential artifacts from sample collection are a growing concern.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of thermal variations during EBC collection on chemical concentrations.
- To assess how different cooling methods influence condensate yield and biomarker stability.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of actively-cooled versus passively-cooled devices for EBC collection.
- Measurement of condensate volume over time under different thermal conditions.
- Analysis of acetone concentrations in EBC samples subjected to varying thermal profiles.
Main Results:
- Significant differences observed in condensate volume collected between actively-cooled and passively-cooled devices.
- Acetone concentrations in EBC samples showed variability correlated with thermal changes in collection devices.
- Identical EBC samples yielded different results based on collection device thermal properties.
Conclusions:
- Thermal properties of EBC collection devices can introduce significant measurement artifacts.
- Standardization of EBC collection protocols is essential for reliable biomarker analysis.
- Findings have implications for designing future portable breath analysis systems, particularly miniature devices.
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