Detect-ION Launches Collaborative Project to Develop Breath-Based Diagnostics for Pneumonia-Causing Pathogens

TAMPA, Fla., Dec. 15, 2025 — Detect-ION, LLC, a health-tech startup based in Tampa, FL, today announced a collaborative project with the Infectious Diseases Division at Mayo Clinic Florida funded through the Mayo Clinic Advanced Innovation Research (MC-AIR) program. The project aims to develop a non-invasive breath test for detecting Pseudomonas aeruginosa, one of the leading causes of pneumonia in lung transplant recipients and patients with structural lung diseases.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa: A Serious Threat

P. aeruginosa is a highly adaptable bacterium and a major cause of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). These infections can lead to spread of infection, sepsis, or respiratory failure. While the bacterium can infect healthy individuals, it primarily targets immunocompromised patients and those with medical devices such as prosthetics and implants. Its ability to form protective biofilms and resist antibiotics makes it difficult to treat and contributes to overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics and the rise of drug-resistant strains.

Transforming Respiratory Infection Diagnostics

Current diagnostic methods are often unreliable, invasive, and slow. Sputum and blood cultures can be inconclusive, and bronchoscopy — though useful — is costly, invasive, and unsafe for many high-risk patients. These methods also struggle to distinguish between invasive strains and colonizing strains, which often leads to unnecessary treatment with powerful antibiotics.

The collaboration will focus on identifying biomarkers in exhaled breath to develop a diagnostic tool that can:

• Detect lower respiratory tract pathogens such as P. aeruginosa
• Distinguish between colonization and invasive infection
• Correlate biomarkers with disease severity
• Monitor treatment response and efficacy
• Reduce the need for invasive procedures like bronchoscopy

Powered by Detect-ION’s CLARION Technology

The project will begin with a biomarker discovery phase using high-resolution mass spectrometry and intends to leverage Detect-ION’s CLARION platform: a point-of-care breath diagnostic system powered by a patented miniaturized gas chromatograph and chip-scale mass spectrometer (GC-MS). CLARION delivers lab-grade analysis in under five minutes, detecting trace volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath with high sensitivity and specificity.

CLARION was originally developed as a dual-use trace chemical sensing technology with funding from U.S. government agencies including IARPA, DARPA, DTRA, and DIU. It is now being advanced for a broad range of clinical uses, including pulmonary infections, malaria, tuberculosis, and lung cancer.

Improving Patient Outcomes

In the United States, pneumonia accounts for more than $17 billion in annual healthcare costs, frequently causing prolonged hospital stays and strain on hospital resources. This collaboration seeks to develop a scalable, non-invasive breath test to enable earlier intervention, more precise treatment selection, and more judicious use of systemic antibiotics while supporting preventive strategies such as inhaled antibiotics. The long-term vision is a platform with wide clinical, public health, government, military, and industry applications that reshapes how respiratory infections are detected and managed.

“For decades, the gold standard of chemical analysis has been limited to laboratory settings,” said Dr. Ashish Chaudhary, CEO of Detect-ION. “With CLARION, we’ve miniaturized this capability and adapted it for point-of-care breath analysis that now detects diseases in minutes. This collaboration allows us to apply this technology to one of medicine’s biggest challenges: diagnosing pneumonia quickly and accurately. This is not just an incremental step—it’s a paradigm shift in how we think about diagnostics, with the potential to reduce costs, prevent drug resistance, and redefine standards of care worldwide.”

About Detect-ION

Founded in 2021, Detect-ION is a Tampa-based deep-tech startup revolutionizing molecular diagnostics through advanced sensor technologies. With applications spanning national security, public health, and environmental monitoring, Detect-ION’s mission is to democratize access to lab-grade analysis through portable, real-time, chip-scale solutions. The company’s innovations serve CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive) detection needs alongside pioneering breath-based diagnostics. Visit detect-ion.com.

SOURCE: Detect-ION