FFG IKT der Zukunft- Resilienz und Distancing: Detection of Viral Infection by Chemical Evaluation

Title: Screening of Infection by Chemical Evaluation of Breath Volatiles for Rapid Deployment during Viral Outbreaks (DEVICE)

(January 2022 – December 2024)

Description:

The on-going SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has highlighted the need for fast, accurate and non-invasive diagnostic tests to screen people for infection.

Underpinning analytical and clinical programmes, using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for volatile discovery and GC-Ion Mobility Spectrometry (GC-IMS) for near-to-real time breath pattern profiling, will acquire the knowledge to develop GC-IMS as a technological platform for a rapid, accurate, and non-invasive breath infection screening test as the first line of defence to protect people, healthcare systems, and economies. Well-controlled clinical and breath sampling procedures involving sufficient numbers of volunteers will be used to provide statistically significant data that can be used for the first time to develop breath volatile pattern recognition infection screening algorithms. New knowledge on the volatile organic compounds that are associated with infection will be gained. This will pave the way for the commercial development for near-to-real time, cost efficient and accurate (low false positives and negatives) non-invasive screening by GC-IMS, a technology that is portable and which can hence be rapidly deployed in key locations without the need for lengthy discovery research and characterisation programmes.

Contact: Prof. Mayhew and A. Chawaguta, MSc (University of Innsbruck)