Detection of traumatic brain injury through analysis of breath for specific biomarkers is being investigated in a new study.
Breath analysis has been used to diagnose cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease, but has not yet been explored as a noninvasive method of diagnosing TBI.
While the study is at an early stage, it is hoped ultimately its application could be used in sports and military settings to quickly identify TBIs and ensure people receive the diagnosis and care they need.
“Ninety per cent of TBIs are concussions that initially have minor symptoms or none at all, with no observable pathology on neuroimages. This makes their diagnoses difficult,” Dr Marzieh Memar, from the University of Texas at San Antonio, said.
“Diagnosing these injuries is critical to quantifying this risk. Using noninvasive breath analyses to identify biomarkers for TBIs could allow early diagnosis and routine assessment of brain damage, especially in sports and military settings where TBI rates are high.”
Breath analysis is performed by analysing exhaled breath for specific biomarkers, such as metabolites, proteins and cytokines, that are associated with diseases or human performance, such as athletic performance and cognitive function.
“Using breath analysis as a diagnostic tool is still fairly new,” Dr Mark Libardoni, from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) said, who is working on the study alongside UTSA.
“Recent advances in sampling methodologies, analytical hardware and advanced data processing programs have allowed breath analysis to become a more routine analytical tool for researchers.”
SwRI and UTSA will utilise unique experimental designs developed by Dr Memar and fellow researcher Dr Morteza Seidi that collect breath samples before and after brain disruption or damage for different brain severities.
A gas sampling system (GSS) that Libardoni developed will collect and process the exhaled breath samples, isolating chemical metabolites for identification by a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometer.
This device was developed initially to sample and analyse gases in the atmospheres of other worlds such as Enceladus, Europa and the Moon. It can also be used to monitor the spacecraft interior atmosphere and biomarkers in astronauts’ breath.
“A few years ago, when Dr Seidi and I initially came up with the idea to use breath to diagnose TBI, we found that not many organisations can analyse breath,” Dr Memar said.
“UTSA’s experimental capabilities and SwRI’s analytical techniques will empower us to conduct this transformative research. It’s very fortunate that SwRI and UTSA are so close, allowing us to collaborate on this
work.”
Eventually, it is hoped it will be able to diagnosis TBI quickly and in non-medical settings.
“I’ve long envisioned that breath analysis will be used as a routine medical tool,” Dr Libardoni said.
“Breath analysis is an ideal diagnostic tool because it’s so sensitive and non-invasive. Human breath contains hundreds to thousands of volatile organic compounds and provides a very rich environment for comparing healthy and diseased states in individuals.
“This project could take it to the next level and show that analysing exhaled breath is a very accurate and precise method to detect TBI.”
