Highly selective multi-target 3D-printed microfluidic-based breath analyzer

This paper presents a low-cost, portable, and highly selective 3D-printed gas sensor for detection of human breath biomarker gases. To show the diagnostic power of the developed miniaturized gas sensor, capable of differentiating (ppm level) small concentrations of different volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the binary and triple mixtures of biomarkers in breath are tested. The main advantage of the proposed device over previous microfluidic-based gas sensors is the enhanced selectivity of gas detection in complex mixtures (using a novel surface treatment and optimization of the microchannels geometry). Moreover, the sensor recovery time is reduced to 120 seconds, as opposed to over 15 minutes in previous studies (without the coating).