Scientists in Switzerland have developed a portable breath detector that can accurately measure acetone released into the breath when the body burns fat. The smartphone-assisted device allows patients to monitor their metabolism at home and could help doctors personalize treatment for metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
Acetone levels in the breath have long been recognized as an indicator of metabolic activity, since its concentration rises when the body shifts from using carbohydrates to fats as the primary energy source. However, accurate measurements have traditionally required bulky and expensive laboratory equipment, while consumer devices have lacked the sensitivity needed to reliably measure acetone, especially at lower concentrations.
“If we want to make that information available to patients, we need to shrink those technologies into compact, user-friendly devices,” said Andreas Güntner, PhD, assistant professor at ETH Zurich and senior author of the study published today in the Device journal.
To make a compact breath analyzer, Güntner’s team used a chemoresistive sensor that changes its electrical properties in the presence of acetone. These types of sensors are known for their high sensitivity, rapid response, low power consumption, and small size. During each measurement, the accompanying smartphone app coaches users to exhale with the right force and duration, while quality controls can reject improper breaths or contaminated air. This design makes the sensor easy to use while ensuring accurate measurements.
The breath detector was used to analyze 312 breath samples from 12 healthy adults, with measurements closely matching those obtained using gold-standard mass spectrometry. “These findings show that we have the high performance needed for applications such as clinical studies, where you really want to distinguish these slight differences in fat metabolism,” said Simone Hersberger, graduate student at ETH Zurich and first author of the study.
The researchers then used the sensor to monitor breath acetone under four metabolic scenarios: light exercise followed by a high-carbohydrate meal, intense exercise followed by a high-carbohydrate meal, a high-fat ketogenic meal, and fasting. Breath acetone levels remained low during light exercise but increased with intense exercise, dropping after a high-carbohydrate meal. Acetone levels rose after a ketogenic meal and increased further during fasting.
Through Alivion, a spin-off from ETH Zurich, the technology is already available to individuals interested in tracking breath acetone to monitor weight loss and athletic performance. The device is currently being used to monitor individual progress in clinical studies of epilepsy, where a ketogenic diet is a standard medical treatment.
“Now it’s really time to spread it out into clinical trials and answer questions such as the effectiveness of different fasting therapies by providing personalized guidance,” said Güntner. “We’re really moving toward healthcare solutions that, in the future, you won’t need to go to the hospital for anymore. You’ll be able to do them at home.”
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