Application of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to exhaled breath analysis for detecting helicobacter pylori infection

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is one of the most globally prevalent bacteria, closely associated with gastrointestinal diseases such as gastric ulcers and chronic gastritis. Current clinical methods primarily involve Carbon-13 and Carbon-14 urea breath test, both carrying potential safety risks. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy can detect human exhaled gases, which may change under disease conditions. This preliminary study aims to explore the application value of FTIR-based breath analysis in detecting H. pylori infection, providing theoretical basis and clinical references for new clinical detection methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from August 2021 to May 2022 at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University. Breath samples were collected before and half an hour after ingesting unlabeled urea. Gas samples were analyzed using FTIR breath spectra. Individual exhalation spectral data after deducting baseline spectral data were used as the basis for the training and test sets through K-center clustering algorithm. Results: A total of 278 samples were collected (63 H. pylori infection cases, 215 healthy controls). There were no statistically significant differences in general data (age, gender, smoking history, alcohol consumption history, comorbidities, etc.) between the two groups. The predictive model was successfully established, with recognition rates of 94.12%, 98.39%, and 91.30% for the training set, test set, and validation set, respectively. Exhaled gas analysis based on Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy has the potential to diagnose H. pylori infection.