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Until now, breath analysis has been performed with traditional technologies like gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS). GC-MS instruments have not made it into routine clinical use because they are bulky, expensive and require highly trained personnel. Moreover, GC-MS analysis is slow and lacks the quantitative accuracy and reproducibility needed for clinical breath analysis. By contrast, rugged and portable instruments can be built using infrared absorption spectroscopy, a technique that is inherently fast and fully quantitative.

Infrared spectroscopy was pioneered by Samuel Langley and others in the 19th century. The technique relies on the fact that molecules absorb infrared light at specific wavelengths that are characteristic of their structure. The infrared spectrum of a sample is recorded by passing a beam of infrared light through the sample. When the source wavelength matches the vibrational wavelength of a bond, absorption occurs. Examination of the transmitted light reveals how much energy was absorbed at each wavelength. Analysis of the position, shape and intensity of peaks in the infrared spectrum of a sample reveals details about the molecular composition of the sample.

In 1963, Richard Stewart and co-workers were among the first to demonstrate the power of infrared-based breath analysis by detecting halogenated hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, ketones and other trace metabolites in exhaled breath samples. Since then, infrared technologies have come into maturity, and today’s infrared sources of choice are compact tunable laser devices. When these lasers are combined with advanced detection techniques, powerful gas detection instruments can be built with picomolar, or parts-per-trillion (ppt), detection capabilities.

Picomole has developed a novel platform technology for gas analysis called LISA ^TM, which stands for Laser Infrared Sample Analysis.

LISA Technology is fast and powerful, permitting sample analysis down to parts-per-billion levels and below within minutes.
Robust and user-friendly, LISA technology represents a revolutionary advance in the emerging field of breath analysis. It enables for the first time the development of point-of-care test instruments for the diagnosis and management of cancer and other diseases through the quantification of exhaled breath biomarkers.
Click here to learn more about the many potential applications of Picomole’s LISA technology.