Posted on 08/31/2009 10:10:29 AM PDT by Schnucki
Patients with suspected lung cancer could in future be breathalysed to check if they have the disease.
Scientists have developed a sensor that can quickly detect lung cancer molecules on the breath.
They believe the technology could lead to cheap, portable breath-test devices with the potential to save large numbers of lives by spotting cancer early.
The lung cancer biomarkers were found by comparing breath samples from 40 diagnosed patients and 56 healthy individuals.
From the results, the researchers identified 42 "volatile organic compounds" (VOCs) present in the breath of 83% of cancer patients but fewer than 83% of healthy volunteers.
Four of the most reliable were used to develop a nine-sensor array made from tiny gold particles coated with reactive chemicals sensitive to the compounds.
Exposed to the VOCs, the sensors generated an electrical signal that produced a distinctive trace pattern.
In tests the device easily distinguished simulated "healthy" and "cancerous" breath made from artificial compound mixtures.
The Israeli scientists led by Dr Hossam Haick, from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, outline the research in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
They wrote: "Our results show great promise for fast, easy and cost-effective diagnosis and screening of lung cancer."
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Cool. But why not just sniff for tobacco-breath?
The natural spin off from this technology will be a colon cancer detector that you fart into.
Hahaha!
Seriously, I wonder if part of the smell is tobacco residue.
This a UK discovery? If so, look for it to be heralded soon as the success of socialized medicine!
I think I’ve read that specially trained dogs can do the same thing.
Maybe not as silly as it sounds. I bet people would prefer that over the annoyance of a conventional colonoscopy. Instead of having to purge with a laxative, you’d just eat some beans the day before the test.
Actually, Israel. British press.
I’ve read about Golden Retrievers being used to detect cancer.
Glad to know I wasn’t the only one left scratching my head by that sentence.
“They believe the technology could lead to cheap, portable breath-test devices with the potential to save large numbers of lives by spotting cancer early.”....
O.K......So it’s spotted early. NOW you get to wait in line for some government official to decide if you’re life is valuable enough to save!.....
Surely a much smaller number went before the second percent sign.
LOL!!
Israel. I-S-R-A-E-L. They don’t have that problem there. This is a British newspaper not a British medical journal!
Here is an article about a company in the good old USA with the same idea — article from 2005 :-)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2005-08-21-breath-test_x.htm
I’m assuming the technology would be available here....
So look out if they sniff your crotch.
This is what Obama/Kennedy Care will do for you; taking the Air out of Care as it did Mary Jo K.
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