Progress in researches on application of exhaled volatile organic compound sensors in disease diagnosis

Analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in human exhaled breath is showing great potential for its application in the initial screening and recognition of some diseases. Methods used for exhaled VOCs analysis involve generally analytical instruments such as mass spectrometer and chromatograph, and gas sensors. Compared with analytical instruments, the gas sensor is small, cheap, and can be operated simply, which is very suitable to be applied in exhaled VOCs detection for disease diagnosis of large sample size. This review summarizes the principle, performance, characteristics and improvement of the exhaled VOCs sensors, the technology of sensor array and electronic nose and its application in disease recognition, and discusses the prospects and challenges of exhaled VOCs sensors in VOCs detection and disease diagnosis, hoping to bring insight to further studies.