Researchers monitor the condition of children in hospital with breathing air
Published: Friday, May 3rd 2024, 08:20
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Using a newly developed bag, researchers in Basel can collect exhaled air from patients in hospital. Analyzing the breath allows children with certain diseases to be monitored with results that are just as reliable as blood tests.
The new method was used in a study to monitor children who were in intensive care due to diabetic ketoacidosis, as announced by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) on Friday. Ketoacidosis is a life-threatening complication of diabetes.
In order to monitor the progression of symptoms and the effect of the treatment, the researchers from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel used the children's exhaled air in addition to blood and urine samples. "The values in the exhaled air were completely consistent with the blood values," study leader Pablo Sinues from the University of Basel was quoted as saying in the press release. The researchers presented this result in a study published in the journal "Frontiers in Endocrinology".
Same principle as sniffer dogs
According to the SNSF, the analysis works on the same principle that sniffer dogs use to detect certain diseases. Drugs administered in the air we breathe can be identified in the same way as molecules that reflect the activity of our body.
Instead of a dog, however, the breath collected in specially developed bags is analyzed in the laboratory. The air can be blown into a mass spectrometer without any pre-treatment. According to the researchers, the results of the analysis are available less than 15 minutes after sampling.
Also suitable for other diseases
Thanks to the rapid analysis and the more frequent collection of breath samples, the researchers were also able to gain new insights into the processes in the body during the stabilization of young patients with ketoacidosis. However, these still need to be confirmed in further studies.
According to the researchers, such breath analyses could not only be useful for diabetes. This method could also be used to monitor many other diseases.
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