EurekaDx · Advanced diagnostics

HeliTest

An H. pylori breath test for home and pharmacy use.

Breath-test instruments for H. pylori today are benchtop devices: too expensive for consumers, and run by trained staff. HeliTest is designed to be small enough to use at home, simple enough to run with three buttons, and priced in line with over-the-counter medical devices.

Discuss a pilot or partnership Back to overview
Absorption spectrum of a breath sample (illustration, not measurement data)Wavelength →
Development path

Where HeliTest is today.

  1. Lab prototypeProven
  2. Portable demonstratorIn development
  3. Pre-production prototypeNext
  4. Performance evaluationIncluding clinical performance, required under IVDR
  5. Conformity assessmentBy a notified body, Class C
Measurement principle

How a breath test can read light.

Breath in Breath out Laser Sample cell Detector Signal at the detector Wavelengths of interest Wavelength →
Illustrative principle. Not measurement data.
  1. Step 1

    Breath fills a sample cell.

    The user breathes into the device, and the sample is held in a small optical cell.

  2. Step 2

    Infrared light crosses the sample.

    A beam passes through the cell to a detector on the other side.

  3. Step 3

    Molecules absorb their own wavelengths.

    Each gas in the breath absorbs light at a characteristic set of wavelengths, leaving dips in the signal that reaches the detector.

  4. Step 4

    The analysis reads the dips that matter.

    Only the wavelengths linked to the target molecule are used. Everything else in the breath is ignored.

  5. Step 5

    The sample leaves the cell.

    The breath flows out through the outlet.

Why it matters

From a benchtop instrument to a test a patient can take home.

Breath testing todayHeliTest design target
CostToo expensive for the consumer marketIn line with over-the-counter medical devices
SizeBenchtop instrumentPortable
OperationNeeds a trained operatorThree buttons
Route to market

Built to be partnered.

For the consumer market, Darron intends to seek a partner among established consumer-health device companies. HeliPro, the clinical analyser, is planned as Darron’s first product to market.

HeliProClinical breath analyser, designed to screen for H. pylori and gastric pH on site and in real time. TissueScanIntra-operative histopathology on a proprietary sample holder, with data fusion.