Improved “Comb” Breathalyzer

Jila’s comb breathalyze
Most breathalyzers detect only one biomarker; the method described here screens for four and may extend to ten (methanol, methane, water, heavy water, formaldehyde, ethane, carbonyl sulfide, ethylene, carbon disulfide, and ammonia). “The JILA [a joint institute of the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology] system “fingerprints” chemicals by measuring the colors and amounts of light absorbed as a laser frequency comb passes back and forth through breath samples loaded into a mirrored glass tube. Recent upgrades include a shift in the light spectrum analyzed from the near-infrared to the mid-infrared band, where more molecules absorb light, and advances in optical coatings and several other technologies to achieve detection sensitivity up to the parts-per-trillion level.” MORE
Image Credit: JILA and Phys.org