Solid-Phase Microextraction Fiber in Face Mask for in Vivo Sampling and Direct Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Exhaled Breath Aerosol

Abstract

Molecular analysis of exhaled breath aerosol (EBA) with simple procedures represents a key step in clinical and point-of-care applications. Due to the crucial health role, a face mask now is a safety device that helps protect the wearer from breathing in hazardous particles such as bacteria and viruses in the air; thus exhaled breath is also blocked to congregate in the small space inside of the face mask. Therefore, direct sampling and analysis of trace constituents in EBA using a face mask can rapidly provide useful insights into human physiologic and pathological information. Herein, we introduce a simple approach to collect and analyze human EBA by combining a face mask with solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber. SPME fiber was inserted into a face mask to form SPME-in-mask that covered nose and mouth for in vivo sampling of EBA, and SPME fiber was then coupled with direct analysis in real-time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) to directly analyze the molecular compositions of EBA under ambient conditions. The applicability of SPME-in-mask was demonstrated by direct analysis of drugs and metabolites in oral and nasal EBA. The unique features of SPME-in-mask were also discussed. Our results showed that this method is enabled to analyze volatile and nonvolatile analytes in EBA and is expected to have a significant impact on human EBA analysis in clinical applications. We also hope this method will inspire biomarker screening of some respiratory diseases that usually required wearing of a face mask in daily life.

Mass Spectrometry-Based Human Breath Analysis: Towards COVID-19 Diagnosis and Research

“…Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) technique is commonly used for VOCs sampling for MS analysis. For example, Yuan et al [ 55 ] demonstrated the collection and enrichment of numerous breath metabolites from EBA using facemask-based microextraction technique (SPME-in-mask) followed by detection using MS with ambient ionization and GC–MS (Fig. 3 ).…”

“…Wearable facemask sampling also is convenient for a long-time sampling even many hours in daily life, enabling enrichment of ultrarace VOCs. In addition, facemask could also protect humans from air pollutants in the ambient during the sampling process [ 55 ]. These new features have practical relevance for diagnosing COVID-19, because the breath sample is not easily handling due to their infectiousness.…”

“…3 Representative MS-related approaches towards to COVID-19 study: a SPME fiber and SPME holders, b facemask-SPME breath sampling, c ambient SPME-MS analysis, d benchtop SPME–GC–MS analysis, e potable SPME–GC–MS analysis. a-c are adapted from [ 55 ] with permission …”

Applications of ambient ionization mass spectrometry in 2020: An annual review

“…This offers a novel potential route of breath sampling. Yuan et al inserted SPME fibers into face masks for the collection of exhaled breath aerosol, followed by direct analysis using DART‐MS 46 . Numerous ions related to diet and lifestyle habits were detected, such as protonated nicotine and cotinine derived from tobacco use at m/z 163 and 177, respectively.…”

Towards the Direct Detection of Viral Materials at the Surface of Protective Face Masks via Infrared Spectroscopy

“…While this essentially represents a noninvasive approach for characterization human exhaled breath, still additional sampling via SPME and analysis using DART-MS is needed. 16 Analytical procedures classifying surgical face masks without any sample preparation remain rare. [16][17][18][19] Staff in hospitals or clinics, nursing homes and paramedics are subject to a signi cant risk of infection or contagion demanding for the particularly rapid and reliable detection of SARS-CoV-2, or other pathogens.…”