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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Characterization of human skin emanations by Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) extraction of volatiles and subsequent analysis by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

An experimental study was performed to develop and validate a collection and analysis protocol for human skin emanations. The protocol developed included the rubbing of glass beads on the palms and backs of hands for 20 minutes. The volatile headspace above samples were extracted by a solid-phase microextraction fiber which incorporated a composite coating of liquid polymer matrix and solid porous particles. This protocol provided robust and convenient signatures of human skin emanations and was applied to two experiments for validation. In one experiment, a set of twins donated samples and results suggested qualitative differences between samples of twins. The second experiment involved collections from four unrelated individuals over a period of one month. Multivariate analysis was applied to this data set and indicated a stable signature that can be ascribed to the individual, confirming that the protocol developed here can be extended to larger sample sets of MHC typed individuals.

Degree

thesis:*
Department dc:contributor.department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering.
Grantor dc:publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Year dc:date.issued
2005

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Akin James (James J.)
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Christina E. Davis and Darrell J. Irvine.

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
Language dc:language.iso
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33399
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33399

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
MIT
Base URL
dspace.mit.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Akin James (James J.). Characterization of human skin emanations by Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) extraction of volatiles and subsequent analysis by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33399