Development and characterization of electronic noses for the rapid detection of COVID-19 in exhaled breath

Abstract

International audienceNon-invasive and rapid approach is potentially needed for diagnosis of COVID-19. In this work, exhaled breath analysis using e-Nose, is presented as an innovative technique to identify the COVID-19 specific VOCs. The analytical performances of Cyranose®, a commercial e-Nose device, were investigated under controlled conditions. Sensitivity, limit of detection and reproducibility of standardized VOCs existing in the breath was assessed. In addition, the effect of various experimental conditions on sensor response was evaluated, including temperature, relative humidity, flow and sampling time, aiming to select the optimal parameters and to validate it in clinical trials to detect the COVID-19 biomarkers. Cyranose® exhibits high sensitivity and reproducible response towards acetone and nonanal, with a limit of detection of 63 ppb and 20 ppb respectively. Furthermore, results show that the variability of relative humidity, temperature and flow sampling, induced a significant sensors response variation, whereas, varying the sampling time does not affect significantly the sensor response