A team led by Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, the James L. Henderson, Jr Memorial Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State, has created a sensor capable of diagnosing diabetes and prediabetes within minutes using only a breath sample. Their findings were recently reported in Chemical Engineering Journal.

Traditional diagnostic approaches have typically relied on measuring glucose levels in blood or sweat. This new sensor, however, focuses on acetone in exhaled breath. Although acetone is naturally present as a byproduct of fat metabolism, levels higher than approximately 1.8 parts per million are a strong indicator of diabetes.