Portable Breath-Analyzing Device for Point-of-Care Screening of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is underdiagnosed in primary care settings, largely because spirometry instruments are bulky and require skilled operators. Exhaled breath contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that reflect airway inflammation and metabolic changes, which can serve as non-invasive biomarkers for respiratory disease screening. This study constructs a portable breath analysis device based on a chemiresistive sensor array for rapid COPD screening. The sensor array is functionalized with selective sensing materials to capture characteristic VOC patterns from exhaled breath. Raw sensor responses are processed by feature extraction and classification algorithms to distinguish COPD patients from healthy controls and asthma patients. The testing procedure is simple: subjects perform a standardized exhalation maneuver, and the device outputs screening results within three minutes. A multi-center primary-care validation study shows acceptable diagnostic performance for preliminary screening. The main challenge is the cross-sensitivity of gas sensors to environmental contaminants and dietary interference. This breath-based point-of-care device complements conventional spirometry and facilitates COPD early screening in grassroots medical institutions.