United States: A mask called EBCare that identifies the chemical components in a person’s breath to check for the presence of any diseases has been designed by a team led by Wei Gao, professor of medical engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena.
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The mask is intended to check for diseases, including respiratory infection, COPD, asthma, and post-COVID-related illnesses, as pointed out by Caltech in the press release.
EBCare operates by condensing the breath, turning it into a liquid, and transporting it to sensors where it is checked for biomarkers of interest.
As per the lead researcher, Gao, the mask enables “continuous, real-time monitoring of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) in a non-invasive and wearable format.”
Moreover, “This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we monitor respiratory health by providing valuable insights into conditions like asthma, COPD and other metabolic disorders,” as Gao pointed out while noting that it could be a path to more personalized health care.
He said, “It can also be applied to pandemic management by monitoring respiratory infections on a wide scale,” Fox News reported.
However, Gao added that the ultimate vision of EBCare technology is to be expanded to go beyond respiratory diseases.
“As research progresses, we envision that the smart mask can be adapted to detect a wider range of biomarkers, including those related to metabolic, cardiovascular, and infectious diseases,” he added.
More about the mask’s performance
Some of Caltech’s findings on the performance of the mask involved thirty-one healthy adults who wore the EBCare in their real environments while performing various activities for 14 hours.
They could only take the mask off for three minutes to eat food.
Ten of them were smokers, ten had asthma, nine participants had COPD, and twelve of the participants had recently recovered from COVID-19.
Biomarkers for asthma and COPD were effectively identified by the masks on the participating patients. They also were also able to find signs of kidney disease in the patients. EBCare also had fairly good results in terms of blood alcohol levels, Fox News reported.
Gao added, “Monitoring alcohol levels in real time offers a non-invasive and continuous alternative to breathalyzers or blood tests.”
More about the study
The National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, and the US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity supported the study for the research.
The function of the smart mask is not to substitute the traditional diagnosis by doctors; instead, it can give a warning of potential health problems by constant monitoring during everyday routines and thus is designed to “bridge the gap” between two visits to the doctor, according to Gao.
Gao said, “The goal is to identify subtle physiological changes before they develop into more severe conditions, giving individuals the opportunity to take proactive steps in managing their health,” Fox News reported.
This is especially the case in patient populations who may require routine follow-up, such as those with chronic hypertension or diabetes or those who require follow-up after pulmonary diseases, including COVID-19, as highlighted by Gao.