Patent ID: 7547285

Claim:
A method of collecting breath condensate from a portion of exhaled breath from a mammalian subject by separating the expired airway phase of the breath from the alveolar phase, the method comprising: providing a cartridge assembly and a condensing chamber, the cartridge assembly having a breathing port and at least two fluid outlets, wherein at least one fluid outlet is in fluid communication with the condensing chamber; cooling the condensing chamber to a temperature of less than 0° F.; receiving, at the breathing port in the cartridge assembly, at least one exhaled breath from a mammalian subject; monitoring, in the cartridge assembly, at least one characteristic of the exhaled breath, the characteristic generally capable of distinguishing the expired airway phase of the breath from the alveolar phase of the breath; based on the state of the monitored characteristic, diverting the flow of the exhaled breath through the cartridge assembly from one fluid outlet to the other fluid outlet; and upon receiving a diverted portion of the exhaled breath from the cartridge assembly, condensing portions of the exhaled breath to produce condensate on the inner surfaces of the condensing chamber; wherein monitoring includes determining when the exhaled breath has transitioned from the expired airway phase to the alveolar phase, and wherein diverting the flow of the exhaled breath based on the state of the monitored characteristic includes diverting the exhaled breath to the condensing chamber once it is determined that the alveolar phase of the exhaled breath has begun and wherein the monitoring, diverting and condensing steps are repeated in order to increase the amount of condensate produced in the condensing chamber until a predetermined volume of gas has passed into the condensing chamber.