Illustration of Lungs
Title: Breathspec study
Principal Investigator: Dr Amandip Sahota
Study start date: October 2018
The Breathspec® study uses Breathspec® instruments to identify a range of small chemicals called ‘biomarkers’ in the breath when patients breathe out. Using this information it will identify those participants with bacterial respiratory tract infections (RTIs) from participants who do not have the infection.
Patients whom clinicians suspect have an RTI, and who consent to participate in the study, will be asked to provide one complete breath sample directly into each of two different Breathspec® instruments by breathing out into a disposable mouthpiece for three to five seconds. It takes ten minutes to analyse the same, after which a sample of the room air is taken to compare with the breath sample. The participant does not need to be present for this analysis.
The results of the analysis will be stored in the internal memory of each device to later download and analyse. Patients will be assessed and treated at the study sites as per best practice for the diagnosis and treatment of RTI.
It is envisaged that once the Breathspec® device is developed it can be used to determine which patients who need antibiotics to treat a bacterial infection, and those whose RTI is caused by a virus, where antibiotics would be ineffective. This could help to reduce antimicrobial resistance and reduce the need to develop new antibiotics.
This is a national study aiming to recruit 2,000 participants. In Leicester we will recruit patients in the Emergency Department at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Clinical Decisions Unit at Glenfield Hospital.
If you would like more information please contact Denny Vail, senior clinical research assistant on 0116 2585973 or visit https://breathspec.com