Abstract

Exhaled breath analysis for clinical diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring is described with special reference to the techniques used and the underlying chemistry and physics involved. Brief outlines are given of the research carried out to date, and prospects for the future of this potentially valuable non-invasive technique are indicated.

Keywords: Breath analysis, gas chromatography, selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry, proton-transfer reaction mass spectrometry, ion mobility spectrometry, laser spectrometry