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J Breath Res

Title:		"A low cost, easy-to-assemble, open-source modular mobile sampler design for thermal desorption analysis of breath and environmental VOCs"
Author(s):		Chew BS; Pimentel Contreras R; McCartney MM; Borras E; Kenyon NJ; Davis CE;
Address:		"Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States of America. UC Davis Lung Center, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States of America. VA Northern California Health Care System, Mather, CA, United States of America. Department of Internal Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, United States of America"
Journal Title:		J Breath Res
Year:		2022
Volume:		20220526
Issue:		3
Page Number:		-
DOI:		10.1088/1752-7163/ac6c9f
ISSN/ISBN:		1752-7163 (Electronic) 1752-7155 (Print) 1752-7155 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Exhaled breath vapor contains hundreds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are the byproducts of health and disease metabolism, and they have clinical and diagnostic potential. Simultaneous collection of breath VOCs and background environmental VOCs is important to ensure analyses eliminate exogenous compounds from clinical studies. We present a mobile sampling system to extract gaseous VOCs onto commercially available sorbent-packed thermal desorption tubes. The sampler can be connected to a number of commonly available disposable and reusable sampling bags, in the case of this study, a Tedlar bag containing a breath sample. Alternatively, the inlet can be left open to directly sample room or environmental air when obtaining a background VOC sample. The system contains a screen for the operator to input a desired sample volume. A needle valve allows the operator to control the sample flow rate, which operates with an accuracy of -1.52 +/- 0.63% of the desired rate, and consistently generated that rate with 0.12 +/- 0.06% error across repeated measures. A flow pump, flow sensor and microcontroller allow volumetric sampling, as opposed to timed sampling, with 0.06 +/- 0.06% accuracy in the volume extracted. Four samplers were compared by sampling a standard chemical mixture, which resulted in 6.4 +/- 4.7% error across all four replicate modular samplers to extract a given VOC. The samplers were deployed in a clinical setting to collect breath and background/environmental samples, including patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infections, and the device could easily move between rooms and can undergo required disinfection protocols to prevent transmission of pathogens on the case exterior. All components required for assembly are detailed and are made publicly available for non-commercial use, including the microcontroller software. We demonstrate the device collects volatile compounds, including use of chemical standards, and background and breath samples in real use conditions"
Keywords:		*Breath Tests/methods COVID-19/prevention & control *Environmental Monitoring/methods Exhalation Humans SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification *Volatile Organic Compounds/analysis breath analysis exhaled breath vapor (EBV) sampler thermal desorption volatile;
Notes:		"MedlineChew, Bradley S Pimentel Contreras, Raquel McCartney, Mitchell M Borras, Eva Kenyon, Nicholas J Davis, Cristina E eng I01 BX004965/BX/BLRD VA/ U18 TR003795/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/ T32 HL007013/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ UG3 OD023365/OD/NIH HHS/ UL1 TR001860/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/ P30 ES023513/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. England 2022/05/05 J Breath Res. 2022 May 26; 16(3):10.1088/1752-7163/ac6c9f. doi: 10.1088/1752-7163/ac6c9f"