United States: Wearing a face mask as a way of preventing the spread of infectious disease to other people is still a topic of considerable disagreement in the United States.
A modified surgical face mask embedded with a particular breath sensor can precisely measure whether someone has kidney disease, as reported in a new study published in ACS Sensors on May 7.
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The mask examines a person’s breath in search of gases connected to kidney disease, the researchers said.
According to the investigator, Dr. Annalisa Noce, a researcher in hypertension and nephrology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy, “The implementation of this technology is expected to enhance the management of chronic kidney disease patients by facilitating the timely identification of changes in disease progression,” US News reported.
Researchers said in background notes that as many as 35 million Americans have a chronically-ill kidney, more than likely have it, but are unaware.
Face mask can detect kidney disease via breath. The mask correctly identified kidney disease 84% of the time, and accurately ruled out kidney disease 88% of the time. As many as 35 million Americans have chronic https://t.co/EvBmk0g6GY
— Reddit Journal of Science (@rsciencejournal) May 9, 2025
Kidneys eliminate waste products produced by the natural functions of the body, but kidney diseases lower the ability of the kidneys to filter waste products.
As a consequence, researchers have remarked that the population with chronic kidney disease breathes out increased levels of ammonia.
For this study, researchers developed a breath sensor that would detect ammonia and other related gases associated with kidney disease using silver electrodes coated with specially chosen polymers.
Researchers subjected the face masks to 100 people and tested about half of them for chronic kidney disease, US News reported.
The mask identified kidney disease correctly 84% of the time and ruled out kidney disease correctly 88% of the time, per the results.
The research also shows that measurements from the sensor may be used to estimate a person’s level of kidney disease, possibly aiding in a diagnosis and treatment, according to researchers.