New Machine Can Sniff Diseases by Analyzing Your Breath Compounds
Your breath is not only indicative of what you have just eaten – the air you exhale contains information about what is going on in your body. While some breaths have long been known as symptoms of health conditions, analysis at molecular level is a novel approach. A new machine designed by an international team of researchers boasts being able to sniff 17 diseases.


Super sniffer
A team of researchers from Israel and their international colleagues have reported that their new machine is capable of detecting compound ratios in patient’s breath indicative of a disease. This is the first equipment of its kind to be able to detect not just one disease, but a range of them. The new powerful diagnostic tool can analyze breath composition to detect ratios associated with ovarian, lung and prostate cancer, Crohn’s disease, kidney failure, multiple sclerosis, and several other diseases. It is worthy of note that the accuracy is reportedly very high and makes up around 86%. The scientists have already tested their invention and analyzed breaths of over 1,400 volunteers. The participants’ mean age was 55, and men and women were almost equally represented. 1/3 of the participants were smokers. The machine uses mass spectrometry analysis and a sensory array comprising gold particles and carbon nanotubes, and has AI integrated to learn new ratios to look for. Once it has been shown what compound ratios it should be able to recognize, it can do the following tasks.- Quantitative analysis. The machine analyses content of each of the chemicals it was taught to detect.
- Deciphering the results. By comparing the detected ratio with the control samples from healthy patients, it can identify what diseases may be the reason for the changes in breath which have just been detected.
Promising results
The problem with breath analysis is that the compounds being detected and compared, which are called volatile organic compounds, are not specific to any particular disease. That is why introducing this type of ratio analysis appears to be a breakthrough. Given the affordability, convenience and accuracy of the machine, it is clear that such equipment would make diagnosis faster and more accurate, so say nothing of making it non-invasive. It could help diagnose a disease with a simple breath test before other diagnostic tools are used (tests can be time-consuming, expensive and unavailable ASAP).However, medicine is not the only area where the new equipment can be utilized. Theoretically, it can detect spoilt food and help find explosives similar to the way dogs do (though dogs are still the most efficient sniffers!).
References:
Diagnosis and Classification of 17 Diseases from 1404 Subjects via Pattern Analysis of Exhaled Molecules – pubs.acs.org
Comparison of breath gases, including acetone, with blood glucose and blood ketones in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes – iopscience.iop.org
Volatile Biomarkers in Breath Associated With Liver Cirrhosis – Comparisons of Pre- and Post-liver Transplant Breath Samples – ncbi.nlm.nih.gov