Breath test for total organic carbon
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
InventorMaarten Marinus Johannes Wilhelm Van Herpen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A total amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a breath sample (101) is detected by oxidizing/burning (120) the VOCs to form CO2 and H2O, and the amounts of one or both of these compounds are measured (130). CO2 and H2O molecules in the breath sample (101) are removed (110) before the VOCs are converted (120) to CO2 and H2O. Because one VOC molecule contains multiple carbon and hydrogen atoms, the number of formed CO2 and H2O molecules will be substantially larger than the original number of VOC molecules, thereby improving the sensitivity of the detection.
Claims20
An air analyzer for detecting volatile organic compounds, the air analyzer comprising:
- a scrubber configured to collect at least one alveolar breath sample and to substantially remove all molecules of naturally occurring carbon dioxide and water from the at least one alveolar breath sample to form a filtered sample;
- a converter configured to receive an uncontrolled amount of oxygen to convert molecules of hydrocarbons in the filtered sample to molecules of carbon dioxide and water to form an output sample;
- and
- a detector configured to detect an amount of water produced by oxidation of hydrogen-based chemicals in the filtered sample as an air analysis result,
- wherein the carbon dioxide and water in the output sample are produced by the hydrocarbons in the filtered sample and the detected amount of carbon dioxide and water indicate the amount of hydrocarbons in the at least one alveolar breath sample.
A method of detecting volatile organic compounds, the method comprising acts of:
- collecting at least one sample of gas;
- removing all molecules of naturally occurring carbon dioxide and water from the at least one sample of gas to form a reduced sample of gas that is substantially free of water;
- oxidizing the reduced sample of gas to transform volatile organic compounds in the reduced sample of gas into carbon dioxide and water to form an oxidized sample of gas;
- and
- detecting an amount of the carbon dioxide and water produced by oxidation of hydrogen-based chemicals in the reduced sample of gas,
- wherein the carbon dioxide and water in the output sample of gas are produced by the hydrocarbons in the reduced sample of gas and the detected amount of carbon dioxide and water corresponds to the volatile organic compound in the at least one sample of gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.