Clinical Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) have generated increasing interest in biomedical research as they play a vital role in developing diagnostics, prognosis, and therapeutics for a disease or indisposition. VOCs may be an endogenous product of the metabolic processes or produced due to an extraneous challenge such as the presence of microbial population or pollutants. Emerging analytical methodology for collecting, preconcentrating, and analyzing VOCs allows us to detect a comprehensive list of clinical VOCs and provide a confident identification of the VOCs sample from different health status. Associating chemical knowledge of VOCs with the cellular mechanism and leveraging that understanding to develop new biomedical applications is a promising topic within analytical chemistry.

VOCs represent a diverse chemical group of compounds that are volatile in normal room temperature and typically have a characteristic odor. They are present in different biological matrices such as urine, blood, feces, or breath and are detectable using analytical methodologies. There are multiple analytical challenges with VOCs analysis, 1) collection and storage of trace level of VOCs from clinical samples 2) sample preparation and preconcentration 3) analysis of VOCs using analytical techniques HPLC, GC and Comprehensive Chromatography like LC×LC or GC×GC, 4) detection of VOCs by high-resolution mass spectrometry or chemical-sensing devices such as e-nose and 5) chemometric methods for analysis of the large volume of the VOCs metabolites. Recent research showed advances in clinical VOC studies. Addressing the issues above poses the latest evolving topic in this field. The aim of this Research Topic is to become the reference point for solutions with regards to those aspects, providing a guide for VOC analysis in biomedical applications.

We welcome submissions of Original Research and Review articles, in themes including, but not limited to:
• Novel analytical methodologies concerning VOCs collection processes, trapping and concentrating process of VOCs, storage, transport of VOCs and other related challenges.
• Sample preparation methodology development involving thermal desorption or headspace or solid phase microextraction and related technologies
• Analytical method development dealing with VOC analysis using chromatographic techniques such as GC, HPLC, LC×LC or GC×GC or e-nose