On the importance of statistics in breath analysis—hope or curse?

Sandrah P Eckel, Jan Baumbach, Anne-Christin Hauschild
2014 Journal of Breath Research  
As we saw at the 2013 Breath Analysis Summit, breath analysis is a rapidly evolving field. Increasingly sophisticated technology is producing huge amounts of complex data. A major barrier now faced by the breath research community is the analysis of these data. Emerging breath data require sophisticated, modern statistical methods to allow for a careful and robust deduction of real-world conclusions. Keywords breath analysis; exhaled nitric oxide; machine learning; robustness; statistics The
more » ... entific program at the 2013 Breath Analysis Summit provided stimulating insights into the wealth of information that can be gleaned from air exhaled by humans. Since exhaled breath can be sampled continuously and non-invasively, there is great potential for breath analysis to lead to the development of biomarkers with widespread clinical and public health applications. Beyond breathalyzers in law enforcement, exhaled breath monitoring has become routine in clinical practice for monitoring patients undergoing anesthesia. The fractional concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO)-a marker of aspects of airway inflammation-has been studied extensively in research settings and considered for clinical applications in asthma. The breadth of developmental applications discussed at this year's summit was remarkable, ranging from diagnosis of diseases (e.g., lung cancer, tuberculosis) to locating survivors trapped in rubble following natural disasters. As an emerging field, breath analysis is rapidly evolving. Increasingly sophisticated technology is producing huge amounts of increasingly complex data. Major data barriers now faced by the breath research community include standardizing sampling protocols,
doi:10.1088/1752-7155/8/1/012001 pmid:24565974 pmcid:PMC4014528 fatcat:xuf3oqugsjaztira7odyqowlqu