{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T15:06:31Z","timestamp":1784214391977,"version":"3.55.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]]},"group-title":"Molecular Biology","reference-count":0,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784160000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","award":["R21GM148931"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21GM148931"]}]},{"name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","award":["R01GM139967"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01GM139967"]}]},{"name":"National Institute of General Medical Sciences","award":["R21GM151703"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21GM151703"]}]},{"name":"National Heart Lung and Blood Institute","award":["R01HL170175"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01HL170175"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a non-invasive and versatile material often used for non-invasive collection of skin-emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs), with potential applicability in acute and pre-critical care settings. However, most existing PDMS-based methodologies rely on extensive sample preparation and environmental control, limiting their feasibility in time-sensitive clinical contexts.\n\nMethods: We conducted a proof-of-concept pilot study in four healthy volunteers to evaluate whether a simplified skin-contact PDMS sampling procedure can capture detectable VOCs and preserve individual-level variation. PDMS strips were applied directly to the skin with minimal preparation, and collected VOCs were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Donor-associated variability was assessed using Bray-Curtis dissimilarity, and variability in VOC detection was evaluated across body sites.\n\nResults: Skin-contact PDMS sampling detected 160 VOCs across four participants. The mean within-donor Bray-Curtis dissimilarity was 0.308, compared with a mean between-donor dissimilarity of 0.347. Preliminary permutation testing showed distinguishable donor profiles (p-value = 0.004). VOC detection variability differed across body sites, with lower coefficients of variation at the forehead, neck, and wrist than at the ankle.\n\nConclusions: Under simplified sampling conditions, skin-contact PDMS captured individual-associated VOC profiles with lower within-donor variability than between-donor variability. These findings support the feasibility of PDMS-based skin VOC sampling in minimally controlled settings. Further validation in larger and clinically relevant cohorts is warranted to assess the utility of PDMS-sampled skin VOCs as potential biomarkers for early disease detection.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.07.15.738701","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T14:40:04Z","timestamp":1784212804000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Methodological assessment of PDMS passive sampling for skin VOC collection across body sites"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Seibi","family":"Kobara","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Duke University School of Medicine;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Min","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Duke University School of Medicine;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rizky","family":"Ilhamsyah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Georgia Institute of Technology;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Struk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Georgia Institute of Technology;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"John","family":"Dimandja","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Georgia Institute of Technology;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peter J.","family":"Hesketh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Georgia Institute of Technology;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniela Chanci","family":"Arrubla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Duke University School of Medicine;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chase","family":"Fensore","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Emory University;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carmen","family":"Polito","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Emory University School of Medicine"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rishikesan","family":"Kamaleswaran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Duke University School of Medicine;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Annette","family":"Esper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Emory University School of Medicine"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","container-title":[],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/syndication.highwire.org\/content\/doi\/10.64898\/2026.07.15.738701","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]],"date-time":"2026-07-16T14:40:04Z","timestamp":1784212804000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/biorxiv.org\/lookup\/doi\/10.64898\/2026.07.15.738701"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.64898\/2026.07.15.738701","relation":{},"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,16]]},"subtype":"preprint"}}