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Updated: Jun 4, 2025

Fast and Accurate Exhaled Breath Ammonia Measurement
Published on: June 11, 2014
Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy-Based Acetone and Ammonia Measurements from Human Breath Near 8 μm
Saran Kumar K1, Dinesh Jothimani2, MullaiEzhili Manoharan2
1Department of Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India.
Abstract:
Human breath gas analysis is a noninvasive disease diagnostic approach used to identify different pathological conditions in the human body. Monitoring breath acetone (C3H6O) and ammonia (NH3) as biomarkers is vital in diagnosing diabetes mellitus and liver disorders, respectively. In this article, the quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) technique is proposed and demonstrated for measuring C3H6O and NH3 in human exhaled breath samples. We present the QEPAS technique-based approach combined with a broadband tunable quantum cascade laser (QCL) operating from 7.9 to 8.4 μm to target both C3H6O and NH3 at specific absorption wavelengths. The experimental results show that minimum detection limits (MDLs) of 57 and 190 ppb were achieved for C3H6O and NH3, respectively. The proposed technique measured C3H6O and NH3 biomarkers in human breath samples collected from volunteers. The concentration measurements of exhaled breath biomarkers using the QEPAS technique in the 8 μm spectral region agreed with the blood glucose and blood ammonia measurements. The measurement limit and sensitivity met the requirement of the breath gas analysis needed to distinguish the concentrations obtained from a healthy person from those of a person with diabetes and liver disorder conditions.
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