Analysis of Gases

• US 20070167832A1
• Filed: 12/05/2006
• Published: 07/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pen Inc.
• Original Assignee: Nano-Proprietary, Inc. (Nano Magic, Inc.)
• Inventors: Yaniv, Zvi, Soundarrajan, Prabhu
• Granted Patent: US 8,903,474 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/475
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14551 for measuring blood gases
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/0427 Flexural waves, plate waves, e.g. Lamb waves, tuning fork, cantilever

Abstract

Systems and techniques for the analysis of gases for medical purposes are described. In one aspect, a system includes a sample collector to collect a physical sample associated with an individual and present a gas sample for analysis, a gas analysis device to analyze the gas sample presented by the sample collector to determine a concentration of one or more non-aqueous gases in the gas sample, a data storage device that includes information reflecting a correlation between concentration of the one or more non-aqueous gases in the gas sample and a disease state, and a data analysis device to determine a medical condition of the individual based on the concentration of one or more non-aqueous gases in the gas sample and the information.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a sample collector to collect a physical sample associated with an individual and present a gas sample for analysis;

a gas analysis device to analyze the gas sample presented by the sample collector to determine a concentration of one or more non-aqueous gases in the gas sample;

a data storage device that includes information reflecting a correlation between concentration of the one or more non-aqueous gases in the gas sample and a disease state; and

a data analysis device to identify a disease state of the individual based on the concentration of one or more non-aqueous gases in the gas sample and the information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information comprises individualized information reflecting a correlation between concentration of the one or more non-aqueous gases in the gas sample and a medical condition of the individual.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the individualized information comprises a historical record of the concentration of the one or more non-aqueous gases.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the individualized information comprises other medical information describing the medical condition of the individual.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the information comprises generalized information reflecting a correlation between concentration of the one or more non-aqueous gases in gas samples associated with a population of individuals and a medical condition of the population.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the gas analysis device comprises an optical spectrometer.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the optical spectrometer comprises a photoacoustic spectrometer.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the photoacoustic spectrometer comprises:

an infrared source to generate infrared electromagnetic radiation;

a measurement cell to present the gas sample for interaction with the infrared electromagnetic radiation;

a timing device to vary incidence of the infrared electromagnetic radiation on the gas sample presented by the measurement cell; and

an acoustic transducer to transduce consequences of time varying interaction between the incident infrared electromagnetic radiation and the gas sample presented by the measurement cell.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the infrared source comprises a diode.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the sample collector comprises a balloon concentrator.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the sample collector comprises an evaporator to generate the gas sample from a liquid sample associated with the individual.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a second gas analysis device.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the second gas analysis device comprises a conductometric hydrogen sensor.

14. A method comprising the steps of:

receiving a measurement of a concentration of a non-aqueous species in a gas sample associated with an individual;

correlating the concentration measurement with a medical condition of the individual based on a historical record of the concentration of the species in gas samples associated with the individual; and

making a result of the correlation available over an output device.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

supplementing the historical record with information describing the concentration measurement; and

correlating a subsequent concentration measurement with the medical condition based on the supplemented historical record.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of receiving the concentration measurement further comprises the steps of:

receiving data describing infrared absorption of a gas sample at a collection of wavelengths; and

determining the concentration measurement based on the data describing the infrared absorption.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of receiving the concentration measurement further comprises the steps of:

using photoacoustic spectroscopy to determine the data describing the infrared absorption of the gas sample.

18. A system comprising:

a sample collector to collect a sample associated with an individual and present a gas sample for analysis;

a photoacoustic spectrometer comprising;

an infrared source to generate infrared electromagnetic radiation,

a measurement cell to present a gas sample for interaction with the infrared electromagnetic radiation,

a timing device to vary incidence of the infrared electromagnetic radiation on the gas sample presented by the measurement cell, and

an acoustic transducer to transduce consequences of time varying interaction between the incident infrared electromagnetic radiation and the gas sample presented by the measurement cell;

one or more data storage devices that include individualized information reflecting a correlation between concentration of the one or more non-aqueous gases in gas samples and a medical condition of the individual and generalized information reflecting a correlation between concentration of the one or more non-aqueous gases in gas samples associated with a population of individuals and a medical condition of the population; and

a data analysis device to identify a disease state of the individual based on the concentration of one or more non-aqueous gases in the gas sample, the individualized information, and the generalized information.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising a conductometric hydrogen sensor to generate measurements of hydrogen concentration,

wherein the data analysis device is to identify the disease state of the individual based on the concentration of one or more non-aqueous gases in the gas sample, the individualized information, the generalized information, and the hydrogen concentration measurements.

20. A method comprising the steps of:

determining infrared absorption of a first gas sample associated with an individual;

correlating the infrared absorption of the first gas sample with a medical condition of the individual based on generalized information reflecting a correlation between characteristics of gas samples associated with a population of individuals and a medical condition of the population;

adding information describing the infrared absorption to a collection of individualized information reflecting a correlation between characteristics of gas samples associated with the individual and a medical condition of the individual;

determining infrared absorption of a second gas sample associated with the individual; and

subsequently correlating the infrared absorption of the second gas sample with a medical condition of the individual based on the collection of individualized information.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the step of determining the infrared absorption of the first gas sample further comprises the step of determining a concentration of a breath trace compound.

22. A system comprising:

a gas analysis device to analyze a current gas sample originated from an animal to determine a concentration of one or more non-aqueous gases in the gas sample;

a data storage device that includes information reflecting a concentration of one or more non-aqueous gases in a previously acquired gas sample taken from the animal; and

a data analysis device to identify a disease state of the animal based on a comparison of the concentrations of the one or more non-aqueous gases in the previously acquired and current gas samples.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the gas analysis device comprises an optical spectrometer.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the optical spectrometer comprises a photoacoustic spectrometer, wherein the photoacoustic spectrometer comprises:

an infrared source to generate infrared electromagnetic radiation;

a measurement cell to present the gas sample for interaction with the infrared electromagnetic radiation;

a timing device to vary incidence of the infrared electromagnetic radiation on the gas sample presented by the measurement cell; and

an acoustic transducer to transduce consequences of time varying interaction between the incident infrared electromagnetic radiation and the gas sample presented by the measurement cell.

25. A method comprising the steps of:

receiving a first measurement of a concentration of a non-aqueous species in a first gas sample associated with an individual;

comparing the first concentration measurement with a second measurement of a concentration of a non-aqueous species in a second gas sample associated with the individual; and

making a result of the comparison available over an output device.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the step of receiving the first concentration measurement further comprises the steps of:

receiving data describing infrared absorption of the gas sample at a collection of wavelengths; and

determining the first concentration measurement based on the data describing the infrared absorption.