Electronic noses calibration procedure in the context of a multicentre medical study

An overview of the scientific literature in the medical field tells us that a large part of electronic nose applications is devoted to breath analysis. A network based study can help testing the validity of this strategy when using many different devices based on identical or different technologies, in view of a use in real clinical practice. The first step is the instrument calibration using a set of key-compounds. In this work a gas sensor array based on quartz microbalance transducers functionalized with metalloporphyrins (ROW e-nose), and a Cyranose is used simultaneously in a calibration experiment with three ad hoc selected compounds: ethanol, hexane and ethyl acetate, at concentration levels around 1 ppm. These tests have demonstrated that limits of detection down to tens of ppb are possible. Moreover, a mapping between the two instruments has been performed through the calculation of a model based on Cyranose data, and applied to the ROW e-nose data, for the prediction of compound concentrations. This test has shown a good ability in concentrations prediction, with an error lower than 10 ppb. In conclusion, this study provides the first step toward quality assurance of e-nose data in the medical setting. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.