The new device analyses the breath of the user by searching for particular chemicals in the odor. These chemicals are called biological markers (“biomarkers.”) Detection is through a special coating (or film) fitted into the sensor. This takes the form of a small chip (just three millimetres square). By analysing the chemicals on the breath, the sensor can predict whether or not a person has suspected cancer.
Such a device would mean more intrusive testing could be avoided and without the need to wait several days for a biopsy result to come in. Other research has been attempted for the detection of cancer via the breath, but these have tended to focus on one particular type of cancer like lung cancer.
The device is wireless and it sends a signal to a smartphone or tablet. The software on the larger devices displays information in tabular or graphical form. This also enables trending reports to be generated.
At this stage, the sensor is calibrated to indicate possible cancer. Research ongoing at the moment is designed to allow different types of cancer to be categorized. Here the odor of someone suffering from a disease of kidneys is subtly different to someone with a disease of the lungs. The human sense of smell cannot distinguish these respiratory odors.
A benefit from the sensor is that the manufacturing cost is likely to be less than $10. However, the commercialization process could take five years or so. This is required to work on biomarkers for different cancers and to improve the instrument’s precision.
The sensor was developed by the National Institute for Materials Science, based in Tokyo. To turn the idea into reality, the scientists worked with the Kyocera Corporation, Sumitomo Seika Chemicals Company, and Osaka University.
Professor Masao Miyashita, who was instrumental in the instrument’s design, told News Herald: “It’ll be epoch-making if such a simple examination of exhalations becomes widely available.”
