Dr. Joshua Bates and Dr. Riccardo Avvisati at BBCon 2024
Developing Portable Breath Analyzers for Deployment into the Clinic or At Home
00:00 Developing Portable Breath Analyzers for Deployment into the Clinic or At Home
20:15 Question and Answer Session
Questions not answered during the session:
Q: How do you ensure that the flow rate across multiple devices is the same when testing several simultaneously?
A: The outlet of the experimental rig is designed to allow for the testing of four devices simultaneously. The outlet tubing splits into four prongs, where each is measured to be of an equivalent length and an equivalent flow resistance. Each prong then has a mounting jig attached, which allows for easy attachment of the OMED Device. The flow rate at each prong has been measured to ensure that the gas flow is split equally, thus ensuring that each device sees the same flow rate of the same gas mixture for the same duration (i.e. the same gas volume).
Q: How do the gases mix evenly after they have passed through the flow controllers?
A: The downstream outlet tubing of each flow controller was measured to be of an equivalent length and equivalent back pressure, with the equivalent of a manifold setup. This helped to ensure that the gasses all are subject to the same internal volume downstream of the flow controllers. Due to the nature of the experiment, we couldn’t use a mixing chamber as the timing of the flow controller actuation is used in data analysis to determine when exposure to hydrogen or methane starts. As such, we needed the volume downstream of the flow controllers to be as small as possible.
Q: What are the differences between different devices?
A: Sensors from different devices may differ in response and range, as there is variability in the manufacturing process of these semiconductors: we calibrate all sensors to a reference so that the machine learning model can interpret their signals correctly. Also, the model has been trained on multiple devices so it incorporates already some of this variability.
Talk Abstract:
There is a preference for the development of portable, point-of-care (PoC) devices capable of analyzing the breath of patients rapidly, without the need to transport samples to the laboratory. However, the development of such tests relies upon a solid understanding of the relevant compounds in breath, the mechanisms contributing to their presence, and the connection between their concentration and specific diseases. We have recently developed the OMED Health Breath Analyzer which utilizes metal oxide sensors to accurately measure hydrogen and methane in the breath as key biomarkers of gut microbiome activity with comparable accuracy to currently used in-clinic hydrogen and methane testing equipment. This device could support the diagnosis, longitudinal monitoring of treatment response and compliance, and recurrence of gastrointestinal conditions such as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), and intestinal methanogen overgrowth (IMO). This device was developed using a synthetic breath system, built to match specifications taken from Atlas-type data. The VOC Atlas could therefore provide a reference database to outline specifications for sensors and instrumentation companies can use to develop portable VOC breath analyzers.
Speaker Biography:
Joshua is a Senior Systems Engineer in Owlstone Medical’s Engineering and Operations department. His undergraduate degree was in Medical Engineering, and joined us after completing his PhD. He now works on developing our portable hydrogen and methane breath analyzer for research and diagnostic purposes. Riccardo is a Senior Data Scientist at Owlstone Medical, and works on analyzing and processing data for our gastrointestinal projects and OMED Health. This includes data from the OMED Health portable breath analyzer.
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