Tiny Breath Acetone Sensor to Measure Fat Burning During Exercise Help Monitor Diabetes

Those wishing to lose weight have to watch their diet, but for optimal results they also have to burn existing fat in their bodies through exercise. Any amount of exercise simply won’t do, as body fat only burns when pressed to do so by specific physiological situations. Therefore, it would be nice to know that one’s exercise is actually achieving the fat burning goals.

It’s been known for a while that when we burn built-up fat, the acetone in our breath increases in concentration. Additionally, acetone is also a biomarker that tracks closely with one’s blood glucose levels, making it potentially useful as a way to detect and monitor diabetes.

Measuring the level of acetone in one’s breath is difficult, though, because of the high moisture amount and other breath components that comes along with it, confusing most sensors. Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland have now developed a tiny, highly accurate acetone breath sensor that may soon serve as a core for fitness wearables and diabetes diagnostic devices.

The new sensor, about the size of a coin, is so selective that it detects acetone exclusive of all other chemicals found in our breath. Moreover, it detects individual molecules of acetone per 100 million parts of everything else, an impressive level of accuracy.

The technology was tested on volunteers riding a stationary bike equipped with the breath sensor. It worked so well that the scientists were able to show that, contrary to what was previously believed, some people begin burning fat soon after starting to exercise. Previously, it was thought that everyone has to get moving for quite a while before the body gets to power it with stored fat.

Here’s an ETH Zurich video about the new sensor:

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Flashbacks: Accurate Acetone Measurement in Breath for Quick Diabetes Diagnosis…; LEVL Measures Acetone in Breath to Detect Body Fat Burning…; New Acetone Breathalyzer May Replace Blood Glucose Testing for Managing Diabetes…; New Exhaled Breath Sensor to Spot Diseases, Monitor Health…; Portable Acetone Detector to Help Monitor Fat Burning During Exercise…; Breathalyzer Tech: Acetone Nanosensor Could Measure How Well You Manage Your Diabetes…; New Breath Sensor for Indirect Glucose Monitoring, Cancer Detection…

Study in journal Analytical Chemistry: Noninvasive Body Fat Burn Monitoring from Exhaled Acetone with Si-doped WO₃-sensing Nanoparticles…

Via: ETH Zurich…

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