# Is Digital Drying an Effective Method for Infrared Spectroscopy of Gaseous Biofluid?

## TL;DR

This paper explores whether digital drying can help improve infrared spectroscopy for analyzing gaseous biofluids like exhaled breath.

## Contribution

The study provides a detailed qualitative analysis of water molecule spectral features in gaseous biofluids.

## Key findings

- Water vapor in exhaled breath hinders metabolite identification in infrared spectroscopy.
- Digital drying and spectral analysis can enable accurate detection of disease-specific biomarkers.
- Infrared spectroscopy shows potential for gaseous biofluid diagnostics when water vapor is carefully analyzed.

## Abstract

In recent years, gaseous biofluid analysis has gained
popularity
as a diagnostic approach due to the noninvasive collection of gaseous
bioprobes. Among many biofluids, human exhaled breath stands out as
a promising option, providing strong evidence of volatile biomarkers
for various diseases. However, identifying these biomarkers is challenging
due to the high concentration of water vapor in exhaled breath. Various
experimental techniques, such as mass spectrometry, electronic nose,
infrared spectroscopy, etc., have demonstrated their potential as
diagnostic tools. However, water vapor in exhaled breath poses a significant
obstacle to metabolite identification across nearly all experimental
methods, particularly in infrared spectroscopy-based diagnostics.
Nevertheless, in addition to physical removal, careful analysis of
the spectral behavior of water molecules enables highly accurate identification
of disease-specific biomarkers using infrared spectroscopy. This study
presents a comprehensive qualitative analysis of the infrared spectral
features of gaseous water molecules.