Breath analysis in detecting epilepsy

The aim of this proof of concept study is to investigate if an electronic nose (eNose) is able to
make a distinction between breath profiles of diagnosed epilepsy patients and epilepsy-free control
subjects. An eNose is a non-invasive device, with a working mechanism that is based on the presence
of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath. These VOCs interact with the sensors of the
eNose, and the eNose has to be trained to distinguish between breath patterns from patients with a
specific disease and control subjects without that disease. During the measurement participants were
asked to breathe through the eNose for five minutes via a disposable mouthpiece. Seventy-four
epilepsy patients and 110 control subjects were measured to train the eNose and create a
classification model. To assess the effects of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) usage on the
classification, additional test groups were measured: seven patients who (temporarily) did not use
AEDs and 11 patients with...

Source: Journal of Breath Research - April 13, 2020 Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Dieuwke van Dartel, H Jurgen Schelhaas, Albert J Colon, Kuan H Kho and Cecile C de Vos Source Type: research