by Victor Higgs, Breath Predict
Accurate and timely diagnosis is the foundation of adequate healthcare. Yet for many respiratory conditions, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and bronchiectasis. However, current diagnostic methods remain limited. Tests are often invasive, unpleasant, costly, and difficult to access outside specialist hospital settings. Misdiagnosis and delays are common, leaving patients without the right treatment at the right time, while lung function and quality of life steadily decline.
Health inequalities amplify this challenge. Communities with limited access to specialist services, often already facing a higher disease burden, are disproportionately affected by diagnostic delays. Tackling these disparities requires new technologies that are not only accurate but also affordable, portable, and deployable at the point of care (POC), directly within community health settings.
Breath analysis is emerging as a powerful solution. Each exhaled breath contains a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), molecular signatures that reflect underlying biological processes. With advances in nanosensors, artificial intelligence, and data analytics, it is now possible to detect and interpret these signals in real time.
This approach is non-invasive, painless, and low-cost. Critically, breath analysis can be performed at the POC in GP surgeries, community clinics, or even schools, making it accessible to patients who may otherwise face barriers to specialist diagnostics. In doing so, breath testing has the potential to reduce health inequalities by bringing advanced diagnostics closer to the communities that need them most.
A leading example is Breath Predict, a UK-based SME developing a breath test that has shown 93% accuracy in diagnosing asthma in early feasibility studies. In addition to diagnosis, the technology shows strong potential for phenotyping asthma, enabling clinicians to distinguish between subtypes of the disease and tailor treatments more effectively.
Breath Predict’s device will enter clinical studies later this year, marking an important step toward validation in real-world healthcare settings. While asthma is the initial focus, the platform has wider potential: research is already underway to extend breath analysis to lower Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), metabolic diseases, and cancers. As populations age and comorbidity becomes more common, a single non-invasive platform capable of detecting multiple conditions could transform how we deliver equitable care at scale.
For patients, breath analysis promises earlier diagnosis, less invasive testing, and access closer to home. For health systems, it offers opportunities to reduce hospitalisations, prevent unnecessary treatments, and lower costs. For society, it represents a way to address health inequalities by ensuring that advanced diagnostics are available to underserved populations and not only those within reach of specialist hospitals.
Breath analysis is poised to become a cornerstone of next-generation diagnostics. By combining accuracy, accessibility, and scalability, it addresses both the clinical challenge of co-morbidity and the societal challenge of health inequality. With innovations like Breath Predict moving into clinical studies this year, the field is set to demonstrate how cutting-edge science can be translated into meaningful improvements in everyday healthcare, ensuring that advanced diagnostics become a standard for all, not a privilege for the few.