Ultra-sensitive human breath analysis via cavity-enhanced frequency comb spectroscopy

Molecules present in exhaled human breath yield a wealth of information about the physiological and metabolic status of a human body. Similar to how blood tests can be used as a disease diagnostics tool, breath analysis has attracted much attention since it enables measurements to be performed in a non-invasive and potentially real-time manner. Several molecules present in the breath have been identified as biomarkers and correlated with specific diseases, such as nitrogen monoxide with asthma, acetone with diabetes, and ammonia with renal failure. In this talk, we will report how we apply cavity-enhanced mid-infrared frequency comb spectroscopy to provide simultaneous detection of multiple breath biomarkers at exceptionally high detection sensitivity levels.