A device that can measure effects of diet simply by breathing into it for 3 seconds has been developed by a South Korean company. It analyzes substances in breath and measures amount of body fat that is burnt off. It is expected that this device will be useful in analyzing effects of diet and exercise.
Sentech GMI (CEO Yoo Do-joon), which is a healthcare subsidiary of a gas sensor manufacturer called Sentech Korea, announced on the 23rd that it has developed KETOSCAN that measures amount of body fat that is burnt off through respiratory gas.
Prototype of KETOSCAN was introduced for the first time at a medical device exhibition that was recently held in Germany. Sentech GMI is facing mass-production and sales of KETOSCAN in 2018 and is preparing for approvals from FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and Ministry of FDA.
Substance called ketone is formed as human body burns off body fat, small amount (ppm level) of acetone is created through respiratory gas. KETOSCAN operates by measuring amount of acetone that comes from respiratory gas and understanding amount of body fat that is burnt off.
Because weight can be reduced as water mass and muscle mass are lost instead of body fat during a diet, there are limitations in finding out effects of diet just from weight. However because amount of body fat that is burnt off can be accurately measured by measuring amount of acetone that is emitted, there have been active clinical researches happening that analyze correlation between burning of body fat and formation of acetone.
Currently gas chromatograph is used to analyze respiratory gas. However it is limitedly used in hospitals and laboratories because it costs about $88,730 (100 million KRW) per instrument and it takes an hour just for analysis.
Whenever a person breathes through KETOSCAN for about 3 seconds, KETOSCAN shows results through a 10.1-inch touchscreen display that is located at the top of KETOSCAN immediately and allows one to check amount of body fat that is burnt out per hour.. Its price is also only about $8,873 (10 million KRW) and it seems that it will be widely used in obesity clinics when it is released.
Sentech GMI is also developing software (SW) that analyzes correlation between amount of body fat that is burnt and emission of acetone and is helping people to set up long-term diet plans through a trend of reduction of body fat.
For example, if amount of emission of acetone is 2ppm, it can be seen that 2.75g of fat is lost per hour. This is equivalent to about loss of 400g of fat per week, KETOSCAN user can see that he or she is losing 1.6kg of fat in month according to this trend. Obesity clinics can also check whether or not their patients are normally exercising and adjusting their meals according to their schedules.
LCHF (Low-Carb High-Fat) diet that has become popular recently is based on a principle that reduces intake of carbohydrates and uses ketone body (acetone), which is a byproduct of fat metabolism, instead of glucose as energy source.
“Periodic checking is important as wrong diet does not bring much positive effects compared to all the efforts that are put in.” said President Yoo Do-joon of Sentech Korea. “One can check how effective current diet is and how much weight he or she can lose during a certain period through KETOSCAN.”
Sentech Korea, which was established in 1998, is a semiconductor-type gas sensor manufacturer and is currently exporting its alcohol detector and breathalyzer that are based on gas sensors to 45 countries. It is also supplying its device for DUI checkpoints to South Korea’s National Police Agency. It made $10.9 million (12.3 billion KRW) in sales in 2016.
Senech GMI is a subsidiary of Sentech Korea and was established this year in order to carry out businesses that are related to gas sensor-based healthcare on full-scale. It is currently developing a device that can analyze gas inside of one’s breath related to particular illness and finds and manages that illness in advance.
Staff Reporter Jung, Hyeongjung | iam@etnews.com