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    Diagnosing diabetes may soon be as easy as breathing into a bag

    August 25, 2025, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    New sensor is a breath of fresh air for diagnosing diabetes | Penn State University
    A team led by a researcher at Penn State has developed a sensor that can help diagnose diabetes and prediabetes on-site in a few minutes using just a breath sample. Credit: Larry Cheng

    In the U.S., one in five of the 37 million adults who has diabetes doesn’t know it. Current methods of diagnosing diabetes and prediabetes usually require a visit to a doctor’s office or lab work, both of which can be expensive and time-consuming. Now, diagnosing diabetes and prediabetes may be as simple as breathing.

    A research team led by Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, James L. Henderson, Jr. Memorial Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State, has developed a sensor that can help diagnose diabetes and prediabetes on-site in a few minutes using just a breath sample...

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    Toward a Hand-Held ‘Breathalyzer’ for Diagnosing Diabetes

    November 10, 2016, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    A portable and compact device is demonstrated for measuring acetone in breath samples. The device features a 7 cm long high finesse optical cavity as an optical sensor that is coupled to a miniature adsorption preconcentrator containing 0.5 g of polymer material. Acetone is trapped out of breath and released into the optical cavity where it is probed by a near-infrared diode laser operating at ∼1670 nm. With an optical cavity mirror reflectivity of 99.994%, a limit of detection of 159 ppbv (1σ) is demonstrated on samples from breath bags. Initial results on direct breath sampling are presented with a precision of 100 ppbv. The method is validated with measurements made using an ion–molecule reaction mass spectrometer. Data are presented on elevated breath acetone from two individuals following an overnight fast and exercise, and from a third individual during several days of routine behavior.

    A portable and compact device is demonstrated for measuring acetone in breath samples. The device features a 7 cm long high finesse optical cavity as an optical sensor that is coupled to a miniature adsorption preconcentrator containing 0.5 g of polymer material. Acetone is trapped out of breath and released into the optical cavity where it is probed by a near-infrared diode laser operating at ∼1670 nm. With an optical cavity mirror reflectivity of 99.994%, a limit of detection of 159 ppbv (1σ) is demonstrated on samples from breath bags. Initial results on direct breath sampling are presented with a precision of 100 ppbv. The method is validated with measurements made using an ion–molecule reaction mass spectrometer...

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