Exhaled breath analysis: physical methods, instruments and medical diagnostics
V.L. Vaksa,b,
E.G. Domrachevaa,b,
E.A. Sobakinskayaa,b,
M.B. Chernyaevaa,b aInstitute for Physics of Microstructures, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Ul'yanova 46, Nizhnii Novgorod, 603950, Russian Federation bLobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod (National Research University), prosp. Gagarina 23, Nizhny Novgorod, 603950, Russian Federation
This paper reviews the analysis of exhaled breath, a rapidly growing field in noninvasive medical diagnostics which is the intersection of physics, chemistry and medicine. Current data are presented on gas markers in human breath and how they are related to human diseases. Various physical methods for breath analysis are described. It is shown how measurement precision and data volume requirements have stimulated technological developments and identified the problems that need to be solved to put this method into clinical practice.