(Press-News.org) Fitness fanatics may soon be able to gauge if their hard work is paying off without the need for weighing scales thanks to a new device that can instantly tell if your body is burning fat.
The portable, pocket-sized sensor, produced by a group of researchers in Japan, works by measuring increased levels of acetone on the breath – a good indicator of when the body has begun to break down fat.
The device has been presented today, 25 July, in IOP Publishing's Journal of Breath Research.
Acetone is primarily produced in the blood when fat is broken down; however, it is also expelled through tiny sacs, called alveoli, in the lungs during exhalation and is therefore present in exhaled breath.
This new device, which is capable of detecting acetone concentrations in the range of 0.2 to 50 parts-per-million, is just 10 cm long, weighs 125 g and requires two AA batteries to operate.
Developed by a group of researchers from NTT DOCOMO Research Laboratories, the device consists of a pressure sensor to detect the exhaled breath and two types of semiconductor-based gas sensors to detect acetone.
After a user blows into the device, the acetone concentration levels can be calculated and sent to a smartphone, either by Bluetooth or a cable, within 10 seconds.
In their study, the researchers recruited 17 healthy adult volunteers (11 men and six women), whose body mass indexes (BMIs) were above the Japanese standard, to test the device.
The volunteers were split into three groups, the first of which carried on with their normal life and were not restricted to a specific numbers of calories in their diet and not required to take part in exercise.
The second group were required to take part in light exercise, such as jogging or fast walking, for 30-60 minutes a day and the final group were required to take part in the same exercise routine and also consume a limited number of calories in their diet each day.
The experiment lasted 14 days and on each day before breakfast, the volunteers were required to measure their body weight, body fat percentage and breath acetone concentrations using the portable device and a standard instrument for comparison.
Results showed that the volunteers in the first two groups – those leading a normal life and those performing daily exercise – were not able to lose significant amounts of fat. Their breath acetone concentrations also remained constant.
The volunteers in the third group who followed the exercise regime and had their calorific intake restricted were able to lose significant amounts of fat and their breath acetone concentrations were increased significantly.
Principal investigator of the study, Satoshi Hiyama, said: "Because obesity increases the risk of lifestyle-related illnesses, enabling users to monitor the state of fat burning could play a pivotal role in daily diet management. Current standard methods, however, are still not practically suitable for point-of-care instrumentation for diet-conscious people who wish to monitor their own fat metabolism at home or outside."
"Considering that the effect of dieting could be estimated from changes in breath acetone concentrations, we've shown that our prototype is a practical and alternative checker that can be used in individual dieting programmes."
"It is also known that when diabetes is out of control, patients have elevated levels of breath acetone. It is possible that our prototype could be used to assess how diabetic control is being managed at home."
INFORMATION:
From Thursday 25 July, this paper can be downloaded from http://iopscience.iop.org/1752-7163/7/3/036005
Notes to Editors
Contact
1. For further information, a full draft of the journal paper or contact with one of the researchers, contact IOP Press Officer, Michael Bishop: Tel: +44 (0) 1179 301032
E-mail: michael.bishop@iop.org
IOP Publishing Journalist Area
2. The IOP Publishing Journalist Area gives journalists access to embargoed press releases, advanced copies of papers, supplementary images and videos. In addition to this, a weekly news digest is uploaded into the Journalist Area every Friday, highlighting a selection of newsworthy papers set to be published in the following week.
Login details also give free access to IOPscience, IOP Publishing's journal platform.
To apply for a free subscription to this service, please email Michael Bishop, IOP Press Officer, michael.bishop@iop.org, with your name, organisation, address and a preferred username.
A prototype portable breath acetone analyzer for monitoring fat loss
3. The published version of the paper "A prototype portable breath acetone analyzer for monitoring fat loss" (J. Breath Res. 7 036005) will be freely available online from Thursday 25 July. It will be available at http://iopscience.iop.org/1752-7163/7/3/036005
Journal of Breath Research
4. This journal is dedicated to all aspects of breath science, with the major focus on analysis of exhaled breath in physiology and medicine, and the diagnosis and treatment of breath odours.
IOP Publishing
5. IOP Publishing provides publications through which leading-edge scientific research is distributed worldwide. IOP Publishing is central to the Institute of Physics (IOP), a not-for-profit society. Any financial surplus earned by IOP Publishing goes to support science through the activities of IOP. Beyond our traditional journals programme, we make high-value scientific information easily accessible through an ever-evolving portfolio of community websites, magazines, conference proceedings and a multitude of electronic services. Focused on making the most of new technologies, we're continually improving our electronic interfaces to make it easier for researchers to find exactly what they need, when they need it, in the format that suits them best. Go to http://ioppublishing.org/.
The Institute of Physics
6. The Institute of Physics is a leading scientific society. We are a charitable organisation with a worldwide membership of more than 50,000, working together to advance physics education, research and application. We engage with policymakers and the general public to develop awareness and understanding of the value of physics and, through IOP Publishing, we are world leaders in professional scientific communications. Go to http://www.iop.org
Pocket-sized sensor gives instant fat burning updates
2013-07-25
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Large study reveals increased cancer risks associated with family history of the disease
2013-07-25
A family history of cancer increases the risk of other members of the family developing not only the same cancer (known as a concordant cancer) but also a different (discordant) cancer, according to a large study of 23,000 people in Italy and Switzerland.
The research, published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology [1] today (Thursday), provides a comprehensive picture of the risk of developing various different types of cancer in families where there is a history of the disease, and is one of the few large studies of this kind that takes into account other ...
Cost of Arctic methane release could be 'size of global economy' warn experts
2013-07-25
Researchers have warned of an "economic time-bomb" in the Arctic, following a ground-breaking analysis of the likely cost of methane emissions in the region.
Writing in a Comment piece in the journal, Nature, academics argue that a significant release of methane from thawing permafrost in the Arctic could have dire implications for the world's economy. The researchers, from Cambridge and Rotterdam, have for the first time calculated the potential economic impact of a scenario some scientists consider increasingly likely – that methane from the East Siberian Sea will ...
Full genome map of oil palm indicates a way to raise yields and protect rainforest
2013-07-25
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, St. Louis, MO and Cold Spring Harbor, NY-- A multinational team of scientists has identified a single gene, called Shell, that regulates yield of the oil palm tree. The fruit and seeds of the oil palm are the source of nearly one-half of the supply of edible vegetable oil worldwide, and provide one of the most promising sources of biofuel.
The discovery, the product of a multiyear effort to provide a high-quality full genome map of the oil palm plant and to scour the sequence for genes of importance to both science and industry, has major implications ...
Heading for regeneration
2013-07-25
This news release is available in German. The rabbit can't do it, neither can a frog, but zebrafish and axolotls can and flatworms are true masters of the craft: Regeneration. Why some animals can re-grow lost body parts or organs while others cannot remains a big mystery. And even more intriguing to us regeneration-challenged humans is the question whether one might be able to activate regenerative abilities in species that don't usually regenerate. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden are now one step further ...
Starburst wind keeps galaxies 'thin'
2013-07-25
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Unlike humans, galaxies don't have an obesity problem. In fact there are far fewer galaxies at the most massive end of the galactic scale than expected and scientists have long sought to explain why. A new, UMD-led study published in the journal Nature suggests that one answer lies in a kind of feast and fast sequence through which large galaxies can keep their mass down.
Galaxies become more massive by 'consuming' vast clouds of gas and turning them into new stars. The new study shows in unprecedented detail how a burst of star formation in a galaxy ...
Key molecular pathways leading to Alzheimer's identified
2013-07-25
NEW YORK—Key molecular pathways that ultimately lead to late-onset Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of the disorder, have been identified by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). The study, which used a combination of systems biology and cell biology tools, presents a new approach to Alzheimer's disease research and highlights several new potential drug targets. The paper was published today in the journal Nature.
Much of what is known about Alzheimer's comes from laboratory studies of rare, early-onset, familial (inherited) forms of the disease. ...
Combo hepatitis C prevention for young drug injectors urged
2013-07-25
UC San Francisco researchers are recommending a combination of six comprehensive measures to prevent the spread of hepatitis C, in an effort to address the more than 31,000 young people they estimate may be newly infected with the virus each year in the United States due to injection-drug use.
The measures, which stem from a 16-year UCSF research project with injection-drug users, known as the “U Find Out” or UFO Study, build upon the successes of clean syringe programs and similar efforts, while recommending greater focus on the social issues behind drug use and further ...
Central signaling response found in mitochondrial energy diseases
2013-07-25
Philadelphia, July 24, 2013 –Researchers have identified a master network of signaling molecules that acts like a "fuse box" to regulate the cellular effects of defective energy flow in mitochondrial respiratory chain diseases—a diverse set of difficult-to-treat genetic-based energy disorders. Using that knowledge, they showed that nicotinic acid, a form of vitamin B3, partially restores normal functioning in cells taken from patients with mitochondrial disease.
The study, from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), suggests that the regulatory signaling network ...
Starburst to star bust
2013-07-25
A new study published in the journal Nature shows how vigorous star formation can turn the tables on a starburst galaxy by forcing hydrogen and other gases high into the surrounding galactic halo, leaving little fuel for the next generation of stars.
These new observations may help solve the mystery of the missing high-mass galaxies that theories predict should exist, but are conspicuously absent.
Astronomers using the new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope have discovered billowing columns of cold, dense gas fleeing the disk of nearby starburst ...
Whole-body computed tomography in severely injured patients in shock increases survival
2013-07-25
The analysis of data from the TraumaRegister® of the German Trauma Society (DGU) was performed by Stefan Huber-Wagner, MD, and colleagues in close cooperation with Professor Rolf Lefering, PhD, from the Institute for Research in Operative Medicine (IFOM), University of Witten/Herdecke in Cologne. Data of 16,719 severely injured patients from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Slovenia were analyzed. The authors compared the observed and the expected mortality rate of severely injured patients with and without whole-body CT. The patients were divided in 3 groups: ...