Developing breath analysis methodologies in mouse models has significant benefits for clinical research and in practice for a range of therapeutics.

Sampling mediums such as blood and urine are routinely collected from patients in clinical practice to measure biomarkers and inform on physiological processes that may have been altered as part of an underlying disease. Exhaled breath can also be collected for similar purposes, as it contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can originate from deeper within the body as opposed to the immediate respiratory system. VOCs can similarly provide insights into physiological processes that are relevant for understanding disease processes in the body. VOCs are a novel group of molecules related to metabolic processes (including microbial metabolism) with applications where other biomarker technology may have failed to be specific, or sensitive enough to apply to medical practice. As such, candidate VOC biomarkers have been identified for a variety of conditions, such as diabetes, respiratory diseases, cancer, gastrointestinal diseases, and infections.

Due to the unique properties of breath as a sampling medium, and the chemical attributes of VOCs, breath VOC biomarkers have many advantages for clinical use. Exhaled breath can be collected in a completely pain-free non-invasive manner and is convenient for subjects providing samples. As breath is almost continually released from the body, it is available in an unlimited supply, and a large sample volume can, therefore, be collected to enable the pre-concentration of lower abundance metabolites for subsequent analysis. Breath can also be collected serially at frequent intervals allowing for time course analysis.