Unit of Respiratory Pathophysiology, Campus Bio-Medico University and Teaching Hospital, Via Alvaro del Portillo 200 - 00128, Rome, Italy.
Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2015;15(7):933-56. doi: 10.1586/14737159.2015.1043895. Epub 2015 May 11.
Breath analysis via electronic nose is a technique oriented around volatile organic compound (VOC) profiling in exhaled breath for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. This approach, when supported by methodologies for VOC identification, has been often referred to as metabolomics or breathomics. Although breath analysis may have a substantial impact on clinical practice, as it may allow early diagnosis and large-scale screening strategies while being noninvasive and inexpensive, some technical and methodological limitations must be solved, together with crucial interpretative issues. By integrating a review of the currently available literature with more speculative arguments about the potential interpretation and application of VOC analysis, the authors aim to provide an overview of the main relevant aspects of this promising field of research.
通过电子鼻进行呼吸分析是一种针对呼气中挥发性有机化合物 (VOC) 分析的技术，用于诊断和预后目的。这种方法，如果得到 VOC 识别方法的支持，通常被称为代谢组学或呼吸组学。尽管呼吸分析可能对临床实践产生重大影响，因为它可以允许进行早期诊断和大规模筛查策略，同时具有非侵入性和低成本的特点，但必须解决一些技术和方法学上的限制，以及关键的解释问题。通过整合对现有文献的综述以及对 VOC 分析的潜在解释和应用的更具推测性的论点，作者旨在提供对这一极有前途的研究领域的主要相关方面的概述。
