Raw onion-laced tuna sandwiches may be a good recipe for a ripe case of halitosis, but they are no match for cancer breath. Fortunately, you'll never have to sniff that whiff. Scientists have develped an artificial schnoz that relieves you from ever having to awkwardly tell someone their breath smells like a tumor.
Professor Hossam Haick and his team at the Israel Institute of Technology have built an artificial nose that can detect molecules in human breath that are symptomatic of head and neck cancers. The device serves to be critical tool in identifying these notoriously hard-to-detect cancers in their early stages.
Although it bears no resemblence in shape to a nose, the Nanoscale Artifical NOSE (NA-NOSE) does consist of five gold nanoparticle sensors linked to software capable of detecting patterns of molecules inherent in the breath of people with head, neck or lung cancer.
Only a few microscopic particles are needed to trigger the nano-sized sensors, which bodes wells for catching cancer in its early stages when it is most treatable.
The NA-NOSE was tested on 87 volunteers, most who had various head and neck cancers, and some who had lung cancer. The NA-NOSE successfully distinguished patients afflicted with head, neck and lung cancers versus those who were cancer free. The device even was able to discern the difference between those diagnosed with head and neck cancers versus those with lung cancer.
Although NA-NOSE produced remarkable results, more testing is needed before the device can be cleared for use in doctor's offices.
Photo: Adrianna Williams/Corbis
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