RESUMEN
The purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of using breath ammonia analysis based on off-axis cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OA-CEAS) with an external-cavity diode laser (ECL) for noninvasive, real-time diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection. Analyses are performed for the breath of 15 healthy volunteers, and eight children and 19 adults with HP infection. The range of ammonia levels for healthy participants is determined to be between 178 and 610 ppb, whereas the ranges for child and adult patients with HP infection are measured to be 457-2470 ppb and 450-2990 ppb, respectively. The ammonia concentrations for patients with HP infection are significantly higher than the concentrations for healthy volunteers. However, no sharp boundary between the ammonia concentrations in the breath of patients with HP infection and healthy volunteers is observed. No correlation between breath ammonia and either body mass index (BMI) or age is found. The reported results suggest that our breath ammonia measurement system has the potential for future use in easy, noninvasive diagnosis of HP infection.