Biofluorometric Acetone Gas Sensor of Sub-ppbv Level Sensitivity.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Analytical Chemistry
• Medical Diagnostics

Background:

• Acetone gas in breath and skin indicates fatty acid metabolism, relevant to diabetes mellitus.
• Early diabetes screening requires sensitive, continuous measurement of acetone gas.
• Wearable sensors for skin acetone detection are increasingly needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve the sensitivity of a biofluorometric acetone gas sensor (bio-sniffer).
• To enable wearable, continuous monitoring of trace acetone concentrations in skin gas for diabetes screening.

Main Methods:

• Optimized fluorescence measurement system and flow cell of a secondary alcohol dehydrogenase-based bio-sniffer.
• Developed a dilution system for preparing sub-parts per billion by volume (ppbv) acetone gas standards.
• Verified dilution system accuracy using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Main Results:

• The dilution system accurately prepared acetone gas down to 0.1 ppbv with 5% coefficient of variation.
• The improved bio-sniffer quantified acetone in the 0.5-1000 ppbv range.
• Achieved a lower limit of quantification 40 times better than the conventional sensor.

Conclusions:

• The optimized acetone bio-sniffer shows enhanced sensitivity for detecting trace acetone.
• This improved sensor system holds promise for continuous, wearable monitoring of skin acetone for early diabetes detection.