Electronic nose technology may have the potential to substantially slow the spread of contagious diseases with rapid signal indication. As our understanding of infectious diseases such as Corona Virus Disease 2019 improves, we expect electronic nose technology to detect changes associated with pathogenesis of the disease such as biomarkers of immune response for respiratory symptoms, central nervous system injury, and/or peripheral nervous system injury in the breath and/or odor of an individual. In this paper, a design of an electronic nose was configured to detect the concentration of a COVID-19 breath simulation sample of alcohol, acetone, and carbon monoxide mixture. After preheating for 24 hours, the sample was carried into an internal bladder of the collection vessel for analysis and data was collected from three sensors to determine suitability of these sensors for the application of exhaled breath analysis. Test results show a detection range in parts-per-million within the sensor detection range of at least 10-300 ppm. The output response of an MQ-2 and an MQ-135 sensor to a diverse environment of target gasses show the MQ-2 taking a greater length of time to normalize baseline drift compared to an MQ-135 sensor due to cross interferences with other gasses. The COVID-19 breath simulation sample was established and validated based on preliminary data obtained from parallel COVID-19 breath studies based in Edinburgh and Dortmund. This detection method provides a non-invasive, rapid, and selective detection of gasses in a variety of applications in virus detection as well as agricultural and homeland security. Index Terms-Gas sensor, alcohol and acetone detection, diagnosis model, corona virus disease-2019, electronic nose, point-of-care. I. INTRODUCTION A. Observed Symptoms of COVID-19 O N MARCH 11, 2020 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a respiratory illness pandemic in the form of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID -19). A plurality of key symptoms associated with COVID-19 infections including, but not limited to: fever and dry cough accompanying approximately 80% of COVID-19
As our understanding of infectious diseases, such as coronavirus diseases including, Coronavirus Disease 2019 , as well as human respiratory viral and nonviral diseases, improves, we expect to uncover a better understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease as it relates to neuroinflammation. This may include associated biomarkers of immune response for neuroinflammation, central nervous system injury, and/or peripheral nervous system injury emitted from the breath and/or odor of an individual. Electronic nose gas sensing technology may have the potential to substantially slow the spread of contagious diseases with rapid diagnostic signal indication for detecting these emitted biomarkers of disease. The biochemistry behind the disease is critical for revealing the target gasses emitted in the breath of a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infected individual for the development of such a selective diagnostic screening tool. In this paper, we comprehensively review the evidence that SARS-CoV-2 infection involves an inflammatory response mechanism involving the olfactory nerve route in the brain from the nasal canal suggesting potential candidate volatile organic compound target gas biomarkers, forming the breath pattern signature of COVID-19, that may be detected by electronic nose technologies from a breath sample.
Over the last 20 years, multiple global viral threats have been encountered, however, maybe none as far-reaching as COVID-19. In 2003, 21% of SARS cases involved healthcare workers (HCWs) and similar rates were observed for H1N1 and MERS. In studies that followed, elevated infection rates among HCWs were attributed to lack of proper personal protective equipment (PPE), improper training, and confusion surrounding infection control policy. HCWs at our institution expressed high stress levels regarding their own safety and the safety of their families. Although the COVID-19 pandemic is still evolving, its infectivity rate amongst HCWs seems comparable, with Italian HCWs constituting 20% of infections as of March 21, 2020. The purpose of our project was to assess the impact of our pandemic preparedness project on HCWs competence and confidence.
The magnitude of how rapidly the COVID-19 virus could spread and infect others facilitated the need for a rapid COVID-19 test, accessible and affordable for both children and adults worldwide. As a result, an infected patient can quickly quarantine and isolate to slow the spread. Our research group has determined VOCs associated with COVID-19 and has built a prototype gas analysis system similar to a breathalyzer for detecting gasses of COVID-19. Some of the symptoms like headaches, coughing, and diarrhea result in an inflammatory response to create a unique variety of gasses like acetone, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide that can be detected when they are exhaled through a person's breath. A sample of a person's breath is first collected in a chamber when a patient breaths into the valve, the gas sensors then detect a voltage change when they contact a COVID-19 target gas. The concentration in parts-per-million is calculated based on the non-linear resistance ratio of the target gas and clean air. Log-based scale calculations and post-data processing calibrate the sensors to increase the accuracy and selectivity. Finally, the voltages and PPM of the target gas concentration data is stored in a computer database and sensor coding reveals the resulting breath pattern signature of COVID-19. At just under $15.00 United States Dollars (USD), test results are just a breath away, within seconds of taking the test and even before leaving the doctor's office. Although, this system may also be modified to sniff out other pathogens of disease, spoiled meats, and ripened fruit, we are dedicated to build a gas sensor platform for low cost, noninvasive, and rapid detection of the breath pattern signature of COVID-19, in an attempt to slow the spread of the global health threat of infection and in turn to help save lives. Breath analysis systems serve as a noninvasive means for disease screening. Our objective is to utilize this prototype to obtain a database of H2, CO, NO, Acetone and Alcohol concentrations, whereby, COVID patient breath samples are compared to healthy individual breath samples using our breath analysis system prototype. This system is configured for measuring the aforementioned gas concentrations in ppm and recording the data to a text file in a computer database for subsequent analysis. The data obtained from this study is critical to the development of this system.
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