The use of plasma needle in medical and biological investigation and fast and reliable detection of Volatile organic compounds of human and biogenic origin

2008 - 2010

The technological project financed by the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia

Sub-project: Non-invasive methods of diagnosis of type 2 diabetes by analysis of breath using Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer


In the frame of the technological project "Application of plasma needle in medical and biological research and the rapid and reliable detection of volatile substances of human and plant origin" EPL activities were carried out to develop non-invasive methods of diagnosis of type 2 diabetes by breath analysis using Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer unit (PTR MS). PTR-MS allows the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in human breath, what enables the identification of metabolic disorders, and even the initial stages of diseases such as diabetes, lung cancer or diseases of the digestive tract. For this purpose a parallel analysis of breath of the patient diseased from diabetes, and a healthy control person was performed followed by a standard analysis of blood or blood glucose. Changes of VOCs concentrations (formaldehyde (m-z 31), methanol, hydrogen sulfide, acetonitrile, propylene, acetaldehyde, ethanol, acetone, DMF, pyrrole, isoprene, benzene, toluene, phenol, ksilen) from human breath after an interval of 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min after taking the solution enabled the finding of a correlation between temporal changes in VOCs concentrations with changes in conventional blood glucose levels monitored to determine potential biomarkers of type 2 diabetes.


The goal of the investigation was finding a connection between levels of methyl nitrate in exhaled air and blood glucose levels and to evaluate diagnostic significance of this correlation to estimate the level of glycemic control in patients with diabetes.