Bedside Measurement of Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere of Neonatal Incubators Using Ion Mobility Spectrometry

Frontiers in Pediatrics

article

Julia Steinbach¹  Sybelle Goedicke-Fritz²  Erol Tutdibi²  Regine Stutz²  Elisabeth Kaiser²  Sascha Meyer²  Jörg Ingo Baumbach¹  Michael Zemlin² 

[1] Department of Applied Chemistry, Reutlingen University;Department of General Paediatrics and Neonatology, Saarland University Medical School

关键词: ion mobility spectrometry;    neonatal incubator;    preterm infant;    volatile organic compound;    breath analysis;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fped.2019.00248

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Background: Early and non-invasive diagnosis of common diseases is of great importance in the care of preterm infants. We hypothesized that volatile organic compounds (VOC) can be successfully measured in the neonatal incubator atmosphere. Methods: This is a feasibility study to investigate whether the discrimination of occupied and unoccupied neonatal incubators is possible by bedside measurement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on the neonatal intensive care unit. VOC profiles were measured in the incubator air using ion mobility spectrometry coupled to multi-capillary columns (BreathDiscovery B&S Analytik GmbH, Dortmund, Germany). Results: Seventeen incubators occupied by preterm infants (50 measurements) and nine unoccupied neonatal incubators were sampled, using 37 room air measurements as controls. Three VOC signals that allow the discrimination between occupied and unoccupied incubators were identified. The best discrimination was reached by peak P20 exhibiting a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 94.0, 88.9, 97.3, and 72.3%, respectively. Use of a decision tree improved these values to 100.0, 88.9, 98.0, and 100.0%, respectively. Discussion: A bedside method that allows the characterization of VOC profiles in the neonatal incubator atmosphere using ion mobility spectrometry was established. Occupied and unoccupied incubators could be discriminated by characterizing VOC profiles. This technique has the potential to yield results within minutes. Thus, future studies are recommended to test the hypothesis that VOCs within neonatal incubators are useful biomarkers for non-invasive diagnostics in preterm neonates.

【 授权许可】

CC BY