Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 8, 2025
Capturing Actively Produced Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds from Human-Associated Samples with Vacuum-Assisted Sorbent Extraction
Published on: June 1, 2022
Comparative analysis of chemical breath-prints through olfactory technology for the discrimination between SARS-CoV-2
Maribel Rodríguez-Aguilar1, Lorena Díaz de León-Martínez2, Blanca Nohemí Zamora-Mendoza2
1Department of Pharmacy, Health Sciences Division, University of Quintana Roo, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
Background:
We identified a global chemical pattern of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath capable of discriminating between COVID-19 patients and controls (without infection) using an electronic nose.
Methods:
The study focused on 42 SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR positive subjects as well as 42 negative subjects. Principal component analysis indicated a separation of the study groups and provides a cumulative percentage of explanation of the variation of 98.3%.
Results:
The canonical analysis of principal coordinates model shows a separation by the first canonical axis CAP1 (r2 = 0.939 and 95.23% of correct classification rate), the cut-off point of 0.0089; 100% sensitivity (CI 95%:91.5-100%) and 97.6% specificity (CI 95%:87.4-99.9%). The predictive model usefulness was tested on 30 open population subjects without prior knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR status. Of these 3 subjects exhibited COVID-19 suggestive breath profiles, all asymptomatic at the time, two of which were later shown to be SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR positive. An additional subject had a borderline breath profile and SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR positive. The remaining 27 subjects exhibited healthy breath profiles as well as SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR test results.
Conclusions:
In all, the use of olfactory technologies in communities with high transmission rates as well as in resource-limited settings where targeted sampling is not viable represents a practical COVID-19 screening approach capable of promptly identifying COVID-19 suspect patients and providing useful epidemiological information to guide community health strategies in the context of COVID-19.
