AveloMask Pneumonia Study Published in Journal of Clinical Microbiology
October 5, 206. Pneumonia is the 4th leading cause of death worldwide, but diagnosis can be surprisingly difficult when the samples you need are hard to obtain: many patients cannot provide sputum and bronchoscopy is invasive.
Our latest study, now published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, adds peer-reviewed evidence for successful detection of pathogens based on breath samples using our non-invasive, easy-to-use sampling device, AveloMask. AveloMask is designed to collect pathogens from the lower respiratory tract for diagnostics with existing PCR tests.
The study enrolled 93 adults at three hospitals in Switzerland and Georgia. 63 participants provided paired breath and lower respiratory tract samples. Key findings included:
Dominant-pathogen detection in 85% of reference-positive cases (40/47).
Potential changes to antimicrobial management in up to 43% of a 23-patient subgroup (based on an exploratory subgroup patient data review).
High patient acceptance, with 90% of mask-sampling participants rating the procedure as easy or okay.
Across individual pathogen comparisons, positive percent agreement was 61% and negative percent agreement was 99.8%. Detection was lower for low-abundance and co-infecting pathogens.
The findings support further evaluation of AveloMask as a practical sampling option, particularly when sputum is difficult to obtain. For diagnostic partners, the potential is to expand access to respiratory molecular testing using existing PCR infrastructure. Larger studies are in planning to establish clinical utility and impact on treatment.
Avelo thanks Michael Osthoff, University Hospital Basel, the collaborating teams in Georgia, and all study participants and co-authors.
Interested in strategic collaboration? Contact hello@avelolife.com
About University Hospital Basel
The University Hospital of Basel (USB) is the backbone of healthcare in northwestern Switzerland and is regularly recognized for its medical excellence and research. The USB is one of Switzerland’s leading medical centers, maintaining high, internationally recognized standards, and treats over 44,000 inpatients annually. In addition, it handles approximately 1.4 million outpatient visits and conducts outstanding research in all fields of medical science.
About Avelo
Avelo AG, the Swiss breath sampling company, aims to revolutionize the diagnosis of respiratory tract infections. Its breath collection device enables non-invasive collection of pathogens from breath aerosols and works with existing PCR tests. The novel device is designed for broad utility, similar to other sample collection technologies such as blood tubes.
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