Wearable Multimodal Detection System for Real-Time In Situ Analysis of Exhaled Breath Condensate

Clinical Snapshot

Key Findings

• P Value: Not reported

• Effect Size: Detection limits: H2O2 (0.209 μmol/L), nitrite (0.155 μmol/L), urea (0.573 μmol/L) in low-concentration range

• Primary Outcome: Successful development of wearable system with 4.1 μL EBC collection within 1 minute

• Nnt Or Sensitivity: Sensitivities: H2O2 (2.7×10⁻² μA/(μmol/L)), nitrite (3.4×10⁻² μA/(μmol/L)), urea (9.0×10⁻³ μA/(μmol/L))

• Confidence Interval: Not provided

Clinical Application

Promising for point-of-care testing but requires clinical validation and regulatory approval Would require TGA approval as medical device. Potential applications in respiratory clinics and home monitoring, but cost-effectiveness assessment needed for PBS consideration Potentially applicable to patients requiring respiratory monitoring, though specific populations not defined

Abstract

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) analysis, a promising noninvasive respiratory monitoring method, has emerged as a pivotal technique for assessing the health status of patients with respiratory disorders and is widely used in clinical research and daily health management. However, conventional analytical methods face challenges in real-time in situ detection of physicochemical indicators and active EBC collection in a power-free way. Herein, a wearable multimodal detection system (WMDS) with efficient collection and real-time analysis of EBC is developed. Specifically, the WMDS consists of a bio-inspired collector, an electrochemical sensor (EBC analysis), a respiratory sensor (humidity and respiratory rate), a temperature sensor, and a flexible printed circuit board. The miniature-sized collector with a cactus spine-like structure can actively harvest 4.1 μL of EBC within 1 min without power consumption. Leveraging self-developed sensors and wireless data transmission circuitry, the WMDS enables real-time in situ monitoring of multimodal EBC analytes (hydrogen peroxide, nitrite, urea) and respiratory parameters (temperature, humidity, and rate). Remarkably, the WMDS exhibits dual-range detection capability covering both physiological and pathological conditions: the low-concentration range of 0-500 μmol/L is applicable for routine health monitoring and early disease screening, with detection limits (LODs) of 0.209, 0.155, and 0.573 μmol/L and sensitivities of 2.7 × 10-2, 3.4 × 10-2, and 9.0 × 10-3 μA/(μmol/L) for EBC analytes; the high-concentration range exceeding 500 μmol/L is designed for severe pathological condition detection, where LODs and sensitivities are 302.2, 278.7, 325.2 μmol/L and 1.9 × 10-2, 1.3 × 10-2, 3.9 × 10-3nA/(μmol/L) respectively. As a proof-of-concept, the WMDS is applied to on-body respiratory monitoring, validating its potential application in real-time in situ health monitoring.

References

1. 1.Yin, Z., Qu, Y., Yang, Y., Wang, C., Zhang, C., Meng, X., Chen, Y., Chen, G., Li, B., Zhang, J., Niu, S., Han, Z., & Ren, L. (2026). Wearable multimodal detection system for real-time in situ analysis of exhaled breath condensate. ACS Sensors. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssensors.6c00279