Quartz-enhanced photo-acoustic spectroscopy for breath analyses

An innovative and novel quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor for highly sensitive and selective breath gas analysis is introduced. The QEPAS sensor consists of two acoustically coupled micro- resonators (mR) with an off-axis 20 kHz quartz tuning fork (QTF). The complete acoustically coupled mR system is optimized based on finite element simulations and experimentally verified. Due to the very low fabrication costs the QEPAS sensor presents a clear breakthrough in the field of photoacoustic spectroscopy by introducing novel disposable gas chambers in order to avoid cleaning after each test. The QEPAS sensor is pumped resonantly by a nanosecond pulsed single-mode mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator (MIR OPO). Spectroscopic measurements of methane and methanol in the 3.1 μm to 3.7 μm wavelength region is conducted. Demonstrating a resolution bandwidth of 1 cm-1. An Allan deviation analysis shows that the detection limit at optimum integration time for the QEPAS sensor is 32 ppbv@190s for methane and that the background noise is solely due to the thermal noise of the QTF. Spectra of both individual molecules as well as mixtures of molecules were measured and analyzed. The molecules are representative of exhaled breath gasses that are bio-markers for medical diagnostics.

[1]  M. Lassen,et al.  Photo-acoustic sensor for detection of oil contamination in compressed air systems , 2016, 2017 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO).

[2]  A. Hansel,et al.  On-line monitoring of volatile organic compounds at pptv levels by means of proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) medical applications, food control and environmental research , 1998 .

[3]  Huadan Zheng,et al.  Single-tube on-beam quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy. , 2016, Optics letters.

[4]  M. Razeghi,et al.  QEPAS based ppb-level detection of CO and N2O using a high power CW DFB-QCL. , 2013, Optics express.

[5]  Jan C Petersen,et al.  Off-axis quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy using a pulsed nanosecond mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator. , 2016, Optics Letters.

[6]  Wenzhe Jiang,et al.  Double acoustic microresonator quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy. , 2014, Optics letters.

[7]  R. Bartlome,et al.  Trace gas monitoring with infrared laser-based detection schemes , 2008 .

[8]  Zoltán Bozóki,et al.  In situ and wide range quantification of hydrogen sulfide in industrial gases by means of photoacoustic spectroscopy , 2013 .

[9]  M. Sigrist.  Trace gas monitoring by laser photoacoustic spectroscopy and related techniques (plenary) , 2003 .

[10]  Lei Dong,et al.  QEPAS spectrophones: design, optimization, and performance , 2010 .

[11]  B. Buszewski,et al.  Identification of volatile lung cancer markers by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry: comparison with discrimination by canines , 2012, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry.

[12]  Célia Lourenço,et al.  Breath Analysis in Disease Diagnosis: Methodological Considerations and Applications , 2014, Metabolites.

[13]  A. Kosterev,et al.  Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy. , 2002, Optics letters.

[14]  R. Tatam,et al.  Optical gas sensing: a review , 2012 .

[15]  G. Scamarcio,et al.  Part-per-trillion level SF6 detection using a quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy-based sensor with single-mode fiber-coupled quantum cascade laser excitation. , 2012, Optics letters.

[16]  Hongming Yi,et al.  T-shape microresonator-based quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy for ambient methane monitoring using 3.38-μm antimonide-distributed feedback laser diode , 2014 .

[17]  Jan C Petersen,et al.  A versatile integrating sphere based photoacoustic sensor for trace gas monitoring. , 2014, Optics express.

[18]  M. Lassen,et al.  Phase-sensitive noise suppression in a photoacoustic sensor based on acoustic circular membrane modes , 2014, 1412.0372.

[19]  Wolfgang Schade,et al.  LED-Absorption-QEPAS Sensor for Biogas Plants , 2015, Sensors.

[20]  Valentin Petrov,et al.  Frequency down-conversion of solid-state laser sources to the mid-infrared spectral range using non-oxide nonlinear crystals , 2015 .

[21]  M. Wolff,et al.  Finite element calculation of photoacoustic signals. , 2007, Applied optics.

[22]  G. Scamarcio,et al.  THz quartz-enhanced photoacoustic sensor for H₂S trace gas detection. , 2015, Optics express.

[23]  Frank K. Tittel,et al.  Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy: A Review , 2014, Sensors.

[24]  Jari Peltola,et al.  Parts-per-trillion-level detection of nitrogen dioxide by cantilever-enhanced photo-acoustic spectroscopy. , 2015, Optics letters.