Potential and suitability of Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) for breath analysis

The detection and monitoring of biomarkers for oxidative stress by measurement of endogenous compounds in exhaled breath has received increasing attention in the past decade. Numerous studies have been performed in order to establish the physiological and pathophysiological meaning of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emission in human breath. Among the various techniques used in exhaled air analysis, there is one that stands out due to its high sensitivity, low cost, portability and ease in-use: the ion mobility spectrometry. In this paper we describe the sampling procedure of human breath and present spectra of exhaled air using ion mobility spectrometers obtained without any pre-concentration. The detection of different volatiles in human breath are discussed with special attention on detection limits for some different analytes occurringin human breath.