A compact breath acetone analyser based on an ultraviolet light emitting diode

• Published in: Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical Vol. 273; pp. 76 - 82
• Main Authors: Li, Jing, Smeeton, Tim M., Zanola, Marco, Barrett, Jacob, Berryman-Bousquet, Valerie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 10.11.2018; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Acetone; Biosensors; Breath analyser; Breath tests; Configurations; Cost analysis; Gas detectors; Gas mixtures; Human breath; LED; Light emitting diodes; Photodiodes; Ultra-violet; Ultraviolet radiation; LED; Ultra-violet; Human breath; Breath analyser; Acetone
• ISSN: 0925-4005; 1873-3077
• DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2018.05.114

•A breath acetone analyser is demonstrated based on the absorption of wavelengths near 285 nm in a compact multipass cell.•The 3σ precision is ±0.4 ppmv, lower limit of detection is 0.7 ppmv and residual errors < ±0.2 ppmv up to 5ppmv acetone.•For human breath, residual errors of the analyser are below ±0.3 ppmv for acetone concentrations up to 3.9 ppmv.•The concept has the potential to meet requirements for lifestyle monitoring and medical screening applications. A gas analyser for acetone based on measurement of the absorption of ultraviolet wavelengths near 285 nm in a compact multipass cell has been demonstrated. The analyser has a robust, compact and low-cost configuration which includes a light emitting diode (LED) light source, silicon photodiode light detection and does not require optical cavity enhancement. The analyser has been tested in various configurations for synthetic gas mixtures and breath samples from several human subjects. The analyser provides a lower limit of detection of 0.7 ppmv acetone, precision of 0.4 ppmv (3σ) and has worst-case residual errors of ±0.2 ppmv (up to 5 ppmv) and ±0.3 ppmv (up to 3.9 ppmv) for synthetic gas mixtures and human breath, respectively. These results indicate that this analyser concept has excellent potential to meet the requirements for making breath acetone measurements for lifestyle monitoring and medical screening applications.