Evaluation of a rapid breath hydrogen analyzer for clinical studies of carbohydrate absorption.
A second-generation gas chromatograph for the analysis of H2 in expired air has been developed. It incorporates a solid-state detector with high sensitivity for H2 and has a small, internal pump which supplies air as the carrier gas, thus eliminating the need for a large tank of compressed gas for the carrier. A reference gas of known H2 concentration is, of course, still required. The entire system weighs 6.0 kg and is completely portable, requiring only 120 V electric current for use. The instrument has a mean intersample interval of less than 2 min, with H2 concentration registered on a digital display. The output has a track-hold feature which permits the output, in parts per million H2, to be retained by the meter so the reading can be verified. The chromatogram can also be recorded on a conventional analog strip-chart recorder. The sensitivity and precision are superior to those of a thermal conductivity H2 gas chromatograph. Moreover, the rapid response time encourages frequent calibration checks with the reference gas. This analyzer offers significant advantages over previous H2-measuring systems for breath-analysis tests used both for diagnostic clinical practice and for field studies of nutritional assessment.
D001944:Breath Tests / Q000295:instrumentation*; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000032:analysis*; D007408:Intestinal Absorption
D006859:Hydrogen