Health
‘Smart mask’ could detect asthma, COPD and other medical conditions, researchers say
Your breath could hold clues to your health, researchers say — and they have developed a “smart mask” to tap into them.
Wei Gao, professor of medical engineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, led the team that created the EBCare, a mask that analyzes the chemicals in someone’s breath to detect any existing health issues.
The mask is designed to screen for medical conditions like respiratory infections, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma and post-COVID infections, according to a press release from Caltech.
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EBCare works by cooling the breath to convert it into a liquid, then transports it to sensors to be analyzed for specific biomarkers.
Researchers have developed a “smart mask” (pictured at left) to detect signs of medical conditions. (Caltech/Wei Gao and Wenzheng Heng; iStock)
In an email to Fox News Digital, lead researcher Gao noted the mask’s ability to enable “continuous, real-time monitoring of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) in a non-invasive and wearable format.”
“This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we monitor respiratory health by providing valuable insights into conditions like asthma, COPD and other metabolic disorders,” Gao said, noting that it could be a path to more personalized health care.
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“It can also be applied to pandemic management by monitoring respiratory infections on a wide scale,” he added.
The ultimate goal is for the EBCare technology to go beyond respiratory diseases, Gao noted.
“As research progresses, we envision that the smart mask can be adapted to detect a wider range of biomarkers, including those related to metabolic, cardiovascular and infectious diseases,” he said.
This schematic shows the process by which the smart mask can detect chemicals in the breath, such as nitrite, which is an indicator of airway inflammation. (Caltech/Wei Gao and Wenzheng Heng)
A study of the mask’s capabilities included 31 healthy adults who wore the EBCare in real-life settings over a 14-hour span, according to Caltech. They only removed the mask for three-minute intervals to eat.
Ten of the participants were smokers, 10 had asthma, nine had COPD and 12 had recently recovered from COVID-19.
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The masks accurately detected the biomarker for asthma and COPD in participating patients. They also successfully detected signs of kidney disease.
EBCare also produced accurate readings of blood alcohol levels.
“Monitoring alcohol levels in real time offers a non-invasive and continuous alternative to breathalyzers or blood tests,” Gao said.
“We would need to see at least a few clinical studies demonstrating that the masks can diagnose better — or more rapidly or with more sensitivity — than the standard of care.”
The research — which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program, and the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity — was published in the journal Science on Aug. 29.
The idea is not for the smart mask to replace traditional medical diagnosis, but to provide “early warning” through continuous health monitoring during daily activities and to “bridge the gap” between doctor’s visits, Gao said.
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“The goal is to identify subtle physiological changes before they develop into more severe conditions, giving individuals the opportunity to take proactive steps in managing their health,” he said.
This is especially important for those who need regular monitoring, such as patients with chronic conditions or those recovering from respiratory infections like COVID-19, according to Gao.
The mask (not pictured) is designed to screen for medical conditions like respiratory infections, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma and post-COVID infections. (iStock)
“I recommend that health care providers consider integrating real-time EBC analysis technology into their diagnostic and monitoring practices, especially for chronic conditions like asthma and COPD,” he said.
“For individuals, the ability to monitor one’s health non-invasively through a wearable device offers the opportunity to be more proactive in managing personal health, which can lead to early intervention and better health outcomes.”
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MarkAlain Déry, DO, MPH, infectious disease doctor and chief innovation officer at Access Health Louisiana, who was not involved with the development of the smart mask, agreed that it is an “exciting concept.”
“Could it work? Sure,” he told Fox News Digital.
Wei Gao, professor of medical engineering at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, led the team that created the EBCare mask. (Caltech)
“However, we would need to see at least a few clinical studies demonstrating that the masks can diagnose better — or more rapidly or with more sensitivity — than the standard of care,” he went on.
“Then, we would need studies that demonstrate clinical improvement.”
Potential limitations
Some external doctors not involved in the mask’s development questioned whether this mode of data collection is beneficial.
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“While the mask introduces an innovative method to monitor exhaled breath condensate (EBC), we need to ask an important question: Do these continuous, real-time measurements genuinely make a difference in everyday life?” said Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurosurgeon, in a conversation with Fox News Digital.
“For the average person, the biomarkers it detects — ammonium, pH, nitrite and alcohol — do not need constant monitoring, especially when routine blood tests can provide this information more accurately and with greater relevance.”
“For the average person, the biomarkers it detects … do not need constant monitoring, especially when routine blood tests can provide this information more accurately and with greater relevance,” a doctor said. (iStock)
Osborn believes that the concept of the EBCare mask is better suited for “specific, high-stakes environments,” such as real-time monitoring of toxic gases in military or industrial settings.
“However, for the average person, especially in a post-pandemic world, the idea of wearing a mask like this is counterproductive,” he said.
Dr. John W. Ayers, PhD, vice chief of innovation in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at the University of California San Diego, also questioned the idea of having patients with asthma or COPD — who already experience breathing difficulties — wear the masks.
“For the average person, especially in a post-pandemic world, the idea of wearing a mask like this is counterproductive.”
The lead researcher, Gao, responded to some of these comments.
“While routine blood tests are indeed reliable, they are typically periodic and require a clinical setting, which limits their ability to capture dynamic, day-to-day physiological changes,” he told Fox News Digital.
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“The real innovation of the EBCare mask lies in its ability to continuously monitor health in real time, offering insights that might not be detectable with intermittent tests.”
For individuals managing chronic conditions like asthma, COPD or metabolic disorders, fluctuations in certain biomarkers can provide early warning signs, according to the researchers. (iStock)
For individuals managing chronic conditions like asthma, COPD or metabolic disorders, fluctuations in certain biomarkers can provide early warning signs before symptoms worsen, allowing for timely intervention, according to the researcher.
Gao, however, did acknowledge some limitations with the EBCare device.
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“One limitation was the relatively small sample size in some of the clinical trials, particularly for conditions like COPD and asthma,” he told Fox News Digital.
“Future studies with larger and more diverse populations will help to further validate the device’s performance across a broader range of conditions and environments.”
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New research from the American Heart Association (AHA) suggests that parents might want to keep a closer eye on their kids’ blood pressure.
About one in seven (14%) of children and teens in the U.S. have high blood pressure or are headed toward it, according to the preliminary findings.
Nearly half of U.S. adults have the condition, according to the AHA, which can raise the risk of heart attack, stroke and other events due to damaged arteries and plaque buildup.
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Lead researcher Dr. Ahlia Sekkarie and her team analyzed the blood pressure and BMI (body mass index) of 2,600 children and teens between the ages of 8 and 19, obtained from the 2017 to 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data.
New preliminary research from the American Heart Association found that about 14% of children and teens in the U.S. have high blood pressure or are at risk of the condition. (iStock)
The researchers found that 8.7% of youths had elevated blood pressure (systolic pressure between 120 and 19 and diastolic pressure less than 80) and 5.4% had high blood pressure, or hypertension (systolic pressure between 130 and 139 or diastolic pressure between 80 and 89).
Blood pressure measurements were higher among boys compared to girls and continued to rise with age.
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Those with severe obesity were found to have a greater prevalence of high blood pressure, while Hispanic youths had the lowest rate of elevated blood pressure.
This research is considered preliminary until full results have been published in a peer-reviewed journal, the release noted.
“Childhood is a great time to learn healthy habits to reduce these risks,” the lead study author wrote in a statement. (iStock)
Sekkarie, an epidemiologist in the division for heart disease and stroke prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, confirmed in a press release that hypertension can begin in childhood and is a “risk factor for heart disease and stroke.”
“It’s important to monitor blood pressure in youth, because young people with heart disease and stroke risk factors are more likely to have cardiovascular disease as adults,” she warned.
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“Childhood is a great time to learn healthy habits to reduce these risks.”
Although the research did not investigate the reason why pediatric hypertension rates are high, Sekkarie suggested that obesity could be a major risk factor, as one in five children in the U.S. is affected.
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High blood pressure can be managed or prevented through maintaining a healthy weight and eating a nutritious diet that’s high in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fats, according to the AHA.
The experts also recommended limiting sodium and alcohol, not smoking and staying physically active as a means of regulating blood pressure.
Blood pressure measurements were higher among boys compared to girls, the research found. (iStock)
Dr. Bradley Serwer, a cardiologist and chief medical officer at VitalSolution, a Cincinnati-based company that offers cardiovascular and anesthesiology services to hospitals nationwide, told Fox News Digital that this study highlights the importance of starting screening at an early age.
“Young people with heart disease and stroke risk factors are more likely to have cardiovascular disease as adults.”
“Knowing your blood pressure and cholesterol is always important,” Serwer, who was not involved in the research, told Fox News Digital.
“If borderline blood pressure or high blood pressure is noted, the first-line therapy is always to assess the individual’s diet and make changes to lower the sodium intake.”
Serwer added, “If there are questions regarding medication, I always recommend deferring to a pediatrician or pediatric cardiologist.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the study researchers for comment.
A patient in Missouri was hospitalized with bird flu despite having no known contact with animals.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the positive case of avian influenza A (H5) on Friday.
The patient, who had underlying medical conditions, was successfully treated with antiviral medications at the hospital and has since been discharged, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).
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This marks the 14th person (in three states) to contract bird flu in the U.S. this year — and the first infection to occur without any reported exposure to sick or infected animals, the CDC alert stated.
The prior 13 cases came after exposure to dairy cows or poultry.
The CDC has confirmed the positive case of avian influenza A (H5) without any known exposure to animals. (iStock)
Dr. Benjamin Anderson, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Global Health at the University of Florida, said the fact that an individual has tested positive for H5 without any reported animal exposure is “very concerning,” but noted that very little is known about the case.
“We don’t know if the individual had indirect exposure to people or products from agricultural settings,” he told Fox News Digital.
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“We also do not yet know the sequence of the virus to determine if it is related to the strains circulating in dairy cattle or not.”
A full epidemiological investigation is necessary to determine all potential paths of exposure, Anderson said.
“If our cases of influenza A spike, we need to test more samples to see if some are avian influenza.”
“This is definitely something we need to pay very close attention to.”
Dr. Edward Liu, chief of infectious diseases at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center in New Jersey, echoed the concern about human-to-human spread.
“When that happens, you won’t see an animal vector or source,” he told Fox News Digital.
A full epidemiological investigation is necessary to determine all potential paths of exposure, said an infectious disease expert. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)
“One of the underlying concerns is that the avian influenza will adapt itself to be more efficient at replicating in humans and better at spreading in respiratory droplets and secretions.”
Liu also emphasized that current testing for avian influenza is limited.
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“Knowing it is influenza A doesn’t mean it is avian influenza,” he said.
“The confirmation of avian influenza requires another step to send it to the state health department or CDC — so we may be measuring the tip of an iceberg. If our cases of influenza A spike, we need to test more samples to see if some are avian influenza.”
This marks the 14th person to contract bird flu in the U.S. this year. The prior 13 cases came after exposure to dairy cows or poultry. (iStock)
Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News and clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, noted that while there hasn’t been evidence of animal exposure, “most likely there was.”
“There has been no evidence of any human-to-human spread at this point,” he told Fox News Digital.
“Surveillance, wastewater analysis and control in animals are key.”
Risk factors
The biggest concern for bird flu right now, according to Anderson, is the potential for it to evolve and gain human-to-human transmission ability.
“Influenza viruses can evolve over time through the accumulation of small point mutations in their genetic sequence,” he said. “However, they can also evolve very rapidly through what is called recombination — when two or more influenza viruses infecting the same host exchange their genetic material and make a new strain of virus.”
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The more this strain of influenza virus circulates, the greater the potential for recombination to occur, the doctor said.
“Right now, the highest-risk human groups are individuals with dairy cow and poultry exposure in areas where spillovers of bird flu have been documented,” Anderson said.
Bird flu is not currently in the seasonal influenza vaccine, although the immunization may still provide some protection, one expert said. (iStock)
So far, those who have contracted the dairy cow strain of influenza virus have mostly had mild infections, the doctor noted.
“However, we know these viruses change quickly, so we need to continue to be vigilant in monitoring their circulation.”
Another risk is that avian influenza may cause more severe disease than regular influenza, Liu cautioned.
“It is not currently in our seasonal influenza vaccine, although the vaccine may still provide some protection,” he said.
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“Luckily, current prescription antivirals, like Tamiflu, still can treat avian influenza.”
As with other flu strains, avian influenza will likely pose a greater risk to older patients, young children, immunocompromised patients, and those with chronic lung, cardiac or kidney disease, the doctor added.
“If it starts to pass from human to human, it could be a huge problem, but we aren’t there.”
Overall, Siegel said, bird flu poses “no current concern unless it mutates further.”
“It needs to be monitored closely,” he added. “If it starts to pass from human to human, it could be a huge problem, but we aren’t there.”
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The CDC stated on Friday that the public risk for bird flu infection remains low.
The agency will continue to investigate the specimen from the human patient, and the Missouri DHSS is looking into potential means of exposure.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Missouri DHSS for comment.
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