MWIR Laser-Based Breath Sensor for Asthma Grading

描述(由申请人提供)： 呼出气中NO和CO水平升高被认为是哮喘患者呼吸道炎症的标志。结合对呼出二氧化碳的同步测量，物理科学公司(PSI)建议开发一种紧凑、低成本的传感器，能够对单个人体呼吸进行动态、体积分辨率分析。这一能力将首次允许同时测量呼出的NO和CO，以及准确解析上呼吸道、下呼吸道和肺泡呼气分数。该传感器基于先进的室温中红外可调半导体激光吸收。在第一阶段计划中，PSI演示了在人体呼气中检测到ppb水平的NO。在第二阶段计划中，我们将集成紧凑的光学单元几何和多个激光，以开发和测试用于哮喘分级的多物种呼吸分析仪。第二阶段计划将与洛斯加托斯研究中心和哈佛医学院的布里格姆和妇女医院合作进行。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Elevated levels of NO and CO in exhaled breath have been implicated as markers of airway inflammation in asthma. Combined with simultaneous measurements of exhaled CO2, Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to develop a compact, low-cost sensor capable of dynamic, volume-resolved analysis of a single human breath. This capability will allow, for the first time, simultaneous measurements of expired NO and CO, as well as accurate resolution of upper airway, lower airway, and alveolar breath fractions. The sensor is based on advanced, room-temperature mid-IR tunable diode laser absorption. In the Phase I program, PSI demonstrated ppb-level detection of NO in human breath. In the Phase II program, we will integrate compact optical cell geometry with multiple lasers to develop and test a multi-species breath analyzer for asthma grading. The Phase II program will be conducted in partnership with Los Gatos Research and the Harvard Medical School's Brigham and Women's Hospital.