<div>The link between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from breath and various diseases and specific conditions has been identified since long by the researchers. Canine studies and breath sample analysis on Gas chromatography/ Mass Spectroscopy has proven that there are VOCs in the breath that can detect and potentially predict hypoglycemia. This project aims at developing a smart nanosensor system to detect hypoglycemia from human breath. The sensor system comprises of 1-Mercapto-(triethylene glycol) methyl ether functionalized goldnanoparticle (EGNPs) sensors coated with polyetherimide (PEI) and poly(vinylidene fluoride -hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) and polymer composite sensor made from PVDF-HFP-Carbon Black (PVDF-HFP/CB), an interface circuit that performs signal conditioning and amplification, and a microcontroller with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to control the interface circuit and communicate with an external personal digital assistant. The sensors were fabricated and tested with 5 VOCs in dry air and simulated breath (mixture of air, small portion of acetone, ethanol at high humidity) to investigate sensitivity and selectivity. The name of the VOCs is not disclosed herein but these VOCs have been identified in breath and are identified as potential biomarkers for other diseases as well. </div><div> </div><div> The sensor hydrophobicity has been studied using contact angle measurement. The GNPs size was verified using Ultra-Violent-Visible (UV-VIS) Spectroscopy. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) image is used to show GNPs embedded in the polymer film. The sensors sensitivity increases by more than 400% in an environment with relative humidity (RH) of 93% and the sensors show selectivity towards VOCs of interest. The interface circuit was designed on Eagle PCB and was fabricated using a two-layer PCB. The fabricated interface circuit was simulated with variable resistance and was verified with experiments. The system is also tested at different power source voltages and it was found that the system performance is optimum at more than 5 volts. The sensor fabrication, testing methods, and results are presented and discussed along with interface circuit design, fabrication, and characterization.</div>

<p>Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are endogenous byproducts of metabolic pathways that can be altered by a disease or condition, leading to an associated and unique VOC profile or signature. Current methodologies for VOC detection include canines, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and electronic nose (eNose). Some of the challenges for canines and GC-MS are cost-effectiveness, extensive training, expensive instrumentation. On the other hand, a significant downfall of the eNose is low selectivity. This thesis proposes to design a breathalyzer using chemiresistive gas sensors that detects VOCs from human breath, and subsequently create an interface to process and deliver the results via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Breath samples were collected from patients with hypoglycemia, COVID-19, and healthy controls for both. Samples were processed, analyzed using GC-MS and probed through statistical analysis. A panel of 6 VOC biomarkers distinguished between hypoglycemia (HYPO) and Normal samples with a training AUC of 0.98 and a testing AUC of 0.93. For COVID-19, a panel of 3 VOC biomarkers distinguished between COVID-19 positive symptomatic (COVID-19) and healthy Control samples with a training area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) of 1.0 and cross-validation (CV) AUC of 0.99. The model was validated with COVID-19 Recovery samples. The discovery of these biomarkers enables the development of selective gas sensors to detect the VOCs. </p><p><br></p><p>Polyethylenimine-ether functionalized gold nanoparticle (PEI-EGNP) gas sensors were designed and fabricated in the lab and metal oxide (MOX) semiconductor gas sensors were obtained from Nanoz (Chip 1: SnO₂ and Chip 2: WO₃). These sensors were tested at different relative humidity (RH) levels, and VOC concentrations. Contact angle which measures hydrophobicity, was 84° and the thickness of the PEI-EGNP coating was 11 µ m. The PEI-EGNP sensor response at RH 85% had a signal 10x higher than at RH 0%. Optimization of the MOX sensor was performed by changing the heater voltage and concentration of VOCs. At RH 85% and heater voltage of 2500 mV, the performance of the sensors increased. Chip 2 had higher sensitivity towards VOCs especially for one of the VOC biomarkers identified for COVID-19. PCA distinguished VOC biomarkers of HYPO, COVID-19, and healthy human breath using the Nanoz. A sensor interface was created to integrate the PEI-EGNP sensors with the printed circuit board (PCB) and Bluno Nano to perform machine learning. The sensor interface can currently process and make decisions from the data whether the breath is HYPO (-) or Normal (+). This data is then sent via BLE to the Hypo Alert app to display the decision.</p>