System and method for breath sampling and breath analysis

1 . A system for breath analysis, comprising:

a. a breath sampling apparatus configured for collecting, from an exhalation breath of a test subject, a sample of substances on a sampling disc devised with an adsorbent, wherein the breath sampling apparatus comprises a headset comprising a holder for said sampling disc and the holder being arranged on the headset such that the holder is adjustable to be placed in proximity of exhalation openings of a test person carrying the headset; and

b. a sample preparation apparatus configured for extracting, by thermal desorption, selected analytes from the sample of substances collected on said sampling disc, wherein the sample preparation apparatus comprises a desorption vessel comprising a main casing and a top lid, the desorption vessel having an interior adapted to accommodate said sampling disc and further being provided with an inlet port for inlet of an inert gas and an outlet port for outlet of desorbed substances from the interior of the desorption vessel, and wherein the desorption vessel comprises a slidable lid adapted to selectively partition the interior of the desorption vessel into two chambers when fully inserted, such that a first chamber is formed in the desorption vessel to be able to accommodate the sampling disc, and a second chamber; such that said second chamber is fully exposed to the sampling disc placed in the first chamber when the slidable lid is extracted and such that said second chamber is shielded from the sampling disc placed in the first chamber when the slidable lid is fully inserted.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the breath sampling apparatus is devised such that the sampling disc is attachable by a magnet or other mechanical arrangement.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the sampling disc comprises a disc member provided with an adsorbent attached to a surface area of the disc member.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the sampling disc comprises an adsorbent powder glued to the disc member.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the sample preparation apparatus comprises a moisture trap adapted to condense and possibly freeze any water content present with the desorbed substances extracted from the desorption vessel.

6 . The system for breath analysis of claim 1 , further comprising a breath sample container for intermediate storage of the sampling disc with the sample of substances collected from the exhalation breath of a test subject.

7 . The system for breath analysis of claim 1 , further comprising an apparatus for detecting and measuring analytes in a collection of substances extracted from the sampling disc.

8 . A method of breath analysis comprising:

a. placing a sampling disc devised with an adsorbent in proximity of exhalation openings of a test person by a breath sampling apparatus configured for collecting, from an exhalation breath of a test subject, a sample of substances on said sampling disc devised with an adsorbent, wherein the breath sampling apparatus comprises a headset comprising a holder for said sampling disc and the holder being arranged on the headset such that the holder is adjustable to be placed in said proximity of the exhalation openings of a test person carrying the headset;

b. receiving the exhalation breath on the sampling disc for a predetermined period of time;

c. collecting the sample of substances from the exhalation breath by adsorption on the sampling disc, wherein the adsorbed amount and composition of substances corresponds to an average amount and composition of substances exhaled during a length of time;

d. placing the sampling disc with the collected substances in a desorption vessel, wherein the desorption vessel comprises a main casing and a top lid, the desorption vessel comprising an interior adapted to accommodate said sampling disc and further being provided with an inlet port for inlet of an inert gas and an outlet port for outlet of desorbed substances from the interior of the desorption vessel, and wherein the desorption vessel comprises a slidable lid adapted to selectively partition the interior of the desorption vessel into two chambers when fully inserted, such that a first chamber, is formed in the desorption vessel to be able to accommodate the sampling disc, and a second chamber, is fully exposed to the sampling disc placed in the first chamber when the slidable lid is extracted and said second chamber is shielded from the sampling disc placed in the first chamber when the slidable lid is fully inserted;

e. releasing by thermal desorption the collected substances from the sampling disc in the desorption vessel by heating in an inert atmosphere;

f. preparing a sample by adsorption of selected analytes among the sample of substances; and

g. analyzing said selected analytes.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

capturing any water content present among the collected substances by condensation.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein preparing the sample further comprises adsorption of said selected analytes by Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME).

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein preparing the sample further comprises adsorption of said selected analytes by a Needle Trap Device (NTD).

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein analyzing said selected analytes comprises analysis by a selection of: Gas chromatography-vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy GC-VUV, mass spectrometry MS, or flame ionization detection FID.

13 . A breath sample preparation apparatus comprising a desorption vessel comprising a main casing and a top lid, the desorption vessel having an interior adapted to accommodate a sampling disc devised with an adsorbent and further being provided with an inlet port for inlet of an inert gas and an outlet port for outlet of desorbed substances from the interior of the desorption vessel; and

wherein the desorption vessel comprises a slidable lid adapted to selectively partition the interior of the desorption vessel into two chambers when fully inserted, such that a first chamber is formed in the desorption vessel to be able to accommodate the sampling disc, and a second chamber is fully exposed to the sampling disc placed in the first chamber when the slidable lid is extracted and said second chamber is unaffected by the sampling disc placed in the first chamber when the slidable lid is fully inserted.

14 . The breath sample preparation apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the sample preparation apparatus comprises a moisture trap adapted to condense and possibly freeze any water content present with the desorbed substances extracted from the desorption vessel.

15 . The breath sample apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising a breath sample container for intermediate storage of the sampling disc with a sample of substances collected from an exhalation breath of a test subject.

16 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the slidable lid is adapted to selectively partition the interior of the desorption vessel into the two chambers when fully inserted such that said second chamber is unaffected by the sampling disc placed in the first chamber when the slidable lid is fully inserted.

17 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the slidable lid is adapted to selectively partition the interior of the desorption vessel into the two chambers when fully inserted such that said second chamber is unaffected by the sampling disc placed in the first chamber when the slidable lid is fully inserted.