Microsystem in LTCC Technology to the Detection of Acetone in Exhaled Breath

Abstract

lesser extent from enzymatic conversion of acetoacetate to acetone (18). The exhaled acetone is usually in the range of 0.3 - 0.9 ppm for healthy people, and over 3.0 ppm for people with diabetes (19). Acetone and other volatiles in breath are present in nanomolar quantities. In order to measure such low concentrations the laboratory systems are applied. They can be divided into two groups: on-line methods, i.e. proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) (20), atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI-MS) (21) and off-line methods such as: gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) (22), selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) (23) based on sample preconcentration. Those methods are in fact very expensive and required a well qualified personnel, therefore their use is exclusively restricted to the laboratories. Based on literature review, exhaled breath acetone measurement in its developmental stage is currently characterized by intensive studies and creation of experimental prototype devices (24)-(26). In this paper the microsystem based on micropreconcentrator and gas sensors array manufactured in LTCC technology is presented.