Now, however, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have demonstrated that purely inorganic happenings can make identical marks. The truth is out there. Exhale A simple breath test can now diagnose peptic ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori. To detect this bacteria in the past, physicians biopsied a patient's stomach tissue. But soon they may use the Meretek UBT Breath Test, approved by the FDA in September.
Patients slosh down a urea solution, fortified with heavy carbon isotopes.
Because H. pylori breaks urea down rapidly, the heavy carbon wafts up and out if the organisms are present.