Overview
- Researchers at ETH Zurich reported this week that their handheld device matched proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry across 312 breath samples from 12 adults, with about a 7.5% difference at 2 ppm.
- The device uses a chemoresistive sensor plus a Tenax TA sorption column to trap acetone and let water vapor pass, which prevents humidity from corrupting the acetone signal.
- A companion smartphone app coaches exhalations and enforces sampling quality so non-experts can produce consistent, reproducible readings at home.
- The technology has been commercialized by ETH spin‑off Alivion AG as 'Nutrion' and ETH holds the patent, and two paper authors are disclosed shareholders in the company.
- The team is deploying the device in research and early clinical studies, including work on ketogenic diet monitoring for epilepsy, but regulators and larger, use-case specific trials are still needed before diagnostic approval.