BREATH-MET
Metrology for breath gas analysis (Breath-MET)
European Partnership on Metrology · Project 25HLT02 · Health Call 2025 · 2026–2029
Exhaled breath offers a promising, non-invasive route for disease diagnosis. Changes in its chemical volatile composition can provide valuable insights into respiratory conditions, metabolic imbalances and cancers. However, aside from a handful of established exhaled breath tests, wider clinical use has been held back by the lack of validated protocols, suitable reference materials and reliable measurement traceability.
Funded through the European Partnership on Metrology and aligned with the EU4Health programme, Breath-MET, will address these critical gaps. Using advanced mass spectrometry and gas chromatography techniques, the project will deliver SI-traceable measurements of candidate disease biomarkers down to the nanomole-per-mole level, develop and characterise primary reference materials in relevant breath matrices, and validate sampling, storage and transport procedures under varying humidity and temperature conditions.
The goal is to make exhaled breath testing more accurate, reliable and reproducible, opening the way for its use against a broad range of diseases and advancing the path towards personalised medicine.
Duration: 01.06. 2026 – 20.05.2029
Total EU contribution: ≈ €2.6 million
Consortium: Nine European national metrology institutes together with universities and industry partners, including the University of Innsbruck.
Contact person: Prof. Chris A. Mayhew and Dr. Lorenzo Petralia