POC-ASTHMA: Point of care exhaled breath test for asthma diagnosis

我们建议研究在初级保健环境中使用护理点(POC)呼气测试来诊断哮喘的可行性。为了确保尽早实施适当的治疗，包括在必要时住院，快速和准确地诊断哮喘和识别患者将是至关重要的。这种诊断技术将导致更有效的治疗，并有助于减轻疾病的负担。哮喘的诊断主要是根据临床医生仔细的临床病史进行的。然而，对被诊断为哮喘的成年人的研究表明，高达30%的人没有明确的哮喘证据。迫切需要使用部分呼出的一氧化氮(FeNO)进行客观测试，并检测挥发性有机化合物(VOCs)，这将大大改进目前的做法。我们将致力于创新地将这两种新的传感器元件集成到一种手持设备中，供医疗保健专业人员使用。一种使用活性纳米材料金属氧化物(MOX)气体传感器阵列和柔性聚合物衬底制造的低成本气体传感器，用于检测呼气中与哮喘诊断和治疗相关的FeNO和VOC生物标志物。一种使用新的纳米材料配方制造的新型流量传感器，可以检测和测量气体流量，可以用于肺功能测量。纳米材料配方将经过精心配制并沉积到塑料基材上，然后进行修饰，以选择性地检测FeNO和VOC生物标志物。印刷的FeNO气体传感器将使用应用纳米探测器新的专利创新激励技术进行激励，然后暴露在测试气体混合物中，以优化传感器的性能。其目标是提供诊断方面的突破性技术，这可能会显著降低测量成本并改进诊断测试。这将减少给被误诊的人服用昂贵的药物，而且早期诊断将确保患者得到适当的治疗，从而改善结果。利用这些项目成果将导致开发可用于临床验证和临床效用研究的原型。“

"We propose to investigate the feasibility of a point of care (POC) exhaled breath test for the diagnosis of asthma for use in primary care setting. The rapid and accurate diagnosis of asthma and identification of patients would be essential to ensure that adequate treatment, including hospitalisation when necessary, is implemented as early as possible. This type of diagnostic techniques would lead to more efficacious treatments and help to reduce the burden of disease.Asthma is mainly diagnosed principally on the basis of a careful clinical history take taken by a clinician. However, studies of adults diagnosed with asthma suggest that up to 30% do not have clear evidence of asthma. There is a critical need for objective testing using fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) and detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that would offer a significant improvement to current practise.We will work on innovatively integrating these two new sensor elements into a handheld device for use by healthcare professionals. A low-cost gas sensor fabricated using active nanomaterial metal oxide (MOx) gas sensor array and flexible polymer substrates for the detection FeNO and VOC biomarkers in exhaled breath associated with the diagnosis and management of asthma. A new flow sensor fabricated using new nanomaterial formulations that can detect and measure gas flow that could be used to make lung function measurements.Nanomaterial formulations will be carefully formulated and deposited onto plastic substrates and subsequently modified to selectively detect FeNO and VOC biomarkers. The printed FeNO gas sensor will be then excited using Applied Nanodetectors new patented innovative excitation technique and then exposed to test gases mixtures to optimize the sensor performance. The target is to provide breakthrough technology in diagnostics which can potentially significantly lower measurement costs and improve diagnostic testing. This would lead to a reduction in costly drugs given to people misdiagnosed and also early diagnosis will ensure patients get the appropriate treatment leading to improve outcomes. Exploitation of these project results will lead to development of prototype that can used for clinical validation and clinical utility studies."