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June 09 Issue - Employee Monthly Magazine
Transforming diabetes monitoring
Breath analysis could replace the finger prick
Yixiang Duan shows
an image of microplasma
used for
monitoring blood
glucose levels. Photo by Dixon Wolf
In his spare time, Yixiang Duan paints, plays league tennis, and invents potentially life-altering technologies.
His Breath Acetone Monitor will provide diabetics with an alternative to pricking their fingers.
Instead, they will simply test their breath to monitor blood-sugar levels using a portable detector.
The technical staff member in Chemical
Diagnostics and Engineering and 15-year Lab
veteran started working on the breath test
technology in 2005. “The project was worked
primarily in my spare time, since there had
been no funding to support the research,
although Laboratory Directed Research and
Development funding was sought years ago,”
he said.
The Breath Acetone Monitor uses microplasma
discharge in conjunction with either a
small spectrometer or a single-channel photo
detector to analyze breath acetone, which
has been shown to correlate with blood glucose,
thus making the substance an effective
alternative biomarker for diabetes.
“The most recent milestone for the monitor is
human breath testing in the laboratory, and
the next step should be further study on the
monitor’s capability and suitability,” Duan
said.
Author of more than 100 peer-reviewed
papers and more than 20 invention disclosures/
patent applications, Duan holds a bachelor’s
degree in radiochemistry from Fudan
University in China, a master’s degree in analytical chemistry from the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
and a doctorate in analytical chemistry jointly from Jilin University and Indiana University.
“The Breath Acetone Monitor is a prime example of how the multidisciplinary focus of science at Los
Alamos National Laboratory gives rise to real-world solutions to problems of national importance,”
said Terry Wallace, principal associate director for Science, Technology, and Engineering. “A device that provides accurate blood sugar monitoring while sparing diabetics from the pain, anxiety, and
inconvenience of poking their fingers to draw blood could help diabetics better manage and cope
with their disease.”
The device, a 2009 R&D 100 Award submission, also is designed for health screening and inspection,
and Duan is in conversation with potential industrial partners and venture capital representatives to
investigate commercialization of the technology.
—Mig Owens
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