Exploring Biomarkers in the Heat and Moisture Exchange Filters

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT07607977

Acronym

HMEPRO

Enrollment

Registered

2026-05-27

Start date

2026-05-08

Completion date

2027-05-01

Last updated

2026-05-27

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Respiratory Inflammation

Keywords

exhaled breath proteomics

Brief summary

When patients undergo major surgery, they are connected to a ventilator during anesthesia. A heat and moisture exchange filter (HME filter) is routinely placed in the ventilator tubing to ensure that the inhaled air is warm and humidified. Today, HME filters are used routinely in all ventilator treatments. They are typically replaced once a day and discarded as regular waste after use. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether HME filters contain proteins and small biological particles from the patient's exhaled air.

Interventions

None listed

Study design

Observational model

COHORT

Time perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* ≥18 years, able to understand study information in Danish. * Admitted for elective surgery for non-malignant conditions with either intravenous or inhalation anaesthesia and invasive mechanical ventilation according to standard practice. * Expected invasive mechanical ventilation \> 1 hour. * Possess legal capacity. * Informed, signed consent is obtained.

Exclusion criteria

* Patients who are transferred to the ICU for continuous invasive mechanical ventilation after end of elective surgery. * Known chronic lung disease.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Total endogenous protein amount captured in HME filters measured by standard biochemical assays.	Through study completion, an average of 3 months.	Quantification of the total amount of endogenous proteins recovered from heat moisture exchange (HME) filters using Biuret based analysis.

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Protein molecular weight and isoelectric point distribution in proteins captured by HME filters.	Through study completion, an average of 3 months.	Distribution and representation of captured proteins according to molecular weight and isoelectric point characteristics determined by proteomic analysis.

Countries

Denmark

Contacts

CONTACTInger L Gade, PhD

inlg@rn.dk+45 20843941

Outcome results