Abstract
We investigated selective detection of the target volatile organic compounds (VOCs) nonanal, n-decane, and acetoin for lung cancer-related VOCs, and acetone and methyl i-butyl ketone for diabetes-related VOCs, in humid air with simulated VOC contamination (total concentration: 300 μg/m3). We used six “grain boundary-response type” sensors, including four commercially available sensors (TGS 2600, 2610, 2610, and 2620) and two Pt, Pd, and Au-loaded SnO2 sensors (Pt, Pd, Au/SnO2), and two “bulk-response type” sensors, including Zr-doped CeO2 (CeZr10), i.e., eight sensors in total. We then analyzed their sensor signals using principal component analysis (PCA). Although the six “grain boundary-response type” sensors were found to be insufficient for selective detection of the target gases in humid air, the addition of two “bulk-response type” sensors improved the selectivity, even with simulated VOC contamination. To further improve the discrimination, we selected appropriate sensors from the eight sensors based on the PCA results. The selectivity to each target gas was maintained and was not affected by contamination.
Highlights
Human breath includes many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be used as biomarkers for diseases
Breath exhaled from diabetes patients includes high concentrations of acetone and methyl i-butyl ketone (MiBK) [1], and breath exhaled from lung cancer patients includes higher concentrations of n-decane, nonanal, and acetoin than controls [2,3,4]
One possible breath-monitoring system uses semiconductor metal oxide (MOx ) VOC sensors that were developed for a wide range of applications, including indoor air quality monitoring [9,10,11,12,13,14,15], mouth odor monitoring [16,17,18,19], and human health diagnosis [20,21,22,23,24]
Summary
Human breath includes many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be used as biomarkers for diseases. One possible breath-monitoring system uses semiconductor metal oxide (MOx ) VOC sensors that were developed for a wide range of applications, including indoor air quality monitoring [9,10,11,12,13,14,15], mouth odor monitoring [16,17,18,19], and human health diagnosis [20,21,22,23,24]. The selectivity of the gas sensor should be analyzed precisely due to the presence of potentially interfering gases. The selectivity of MOx sensors can be roughly controlled by adding noble metal catalysts [25]. A sensor array can be analyzed with statistical methods, such as principal component analysis (PCA) [20,21,26,27]
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