Analysis of Human Breath by Millimeter-Wave/Terahertz Spectroscopy
1
Institute of Optical Sensor Systems, German Aerospace Center (DLR), 12489 Berlin, Germany
2
Department of Physics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 12489 Berlin, Germany
3
Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine ITEM, Biomedical Research in Endstage and Obstructive Lung Disease Hannover (BREATH), 30625 Hannover, Germany
4
The German Center for Lung Research (DZL), 35043 Marburg/35392 Giessen, Germany
5
Department of Pulmonology, Institute for Internal Medicine, Philipps-University of Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany
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Schön Klinik Berchtesgadener Land, Department for Pulmonology, Teaching Hospital of the Philipps-University, 35043 Marburg, Germany
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Teaching Department of the Paracelsus University Salzburg, 5020 Salzburg, Austria
8
IHP—Leibniz-Institut für innovative Mikroelektronik, 15236 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sensors 2019, 19(12), 2719; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19122719
Received: 8 May 2019 / Revised: 12 June 2019 / Accepted: 13 June 2019 / Published: 17 June 2019
(This article belongs to the Section Biosensors)
Breath gas analysis is a promising tool for medical research and diagnosis. A particularly powerful technological approach is millimeter-wave/terahertz (mmW/THz) spectroscopy, because it is a very sensitive and highly selective technique. In addition, it offers the potential for compact and affordable sensing systems for wide use. In this work, we demonstrate the capability of a mmW/THz spectrometer for breath analysis. Samples from three volunteers and a sample from ambient air were analyzed with respect to 31 different molecular species. High-resolution absorption spectra were measured by scanning two absorption lines from each species. Out of the 31, a total of 21 species were detected. The results demonstrate the potential of mmW/THz spectroscopy for breath analysis.
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Keywords:
breath analysis; millimeter-wave; terahertz; spectroscopy; molecular spectroscopy; gas sensing
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Rothbart, N.; Holz, O.; Koczulla, R.; Schmalz, K.; Hübers, H.-W. Analysis of Human Breath by Millimeter-Wave/Terahertz Spectroscopy. Sensors 2019, 19, 2719.
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