The exhaled breath of humans contains many volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are generated by biochemical processes in the body and therefore provide important information about metabolism, including sugar metabolism. With highly specialised instruments such as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and ion mobility spectrometry, the presence and concentration of specific VOCs can be precisely determined in the air we breathe.

In this research project, changes in the composition of VOCs are measured over the course of a day. In addition, the differences in VOCs between people without diabetes and those with diabetes (type 1 and type 2) will be analysed. This will provide important information on how the composition of VOCs differs in these groups.