Lung cancer, the most lethal of all cancers kills more than 3 million people globally every year. Most of the time, it goes undetected until it has spread and could save tens of thousands of lives if there was a way to detect lung cancer in early stages.
Scientists have developed a ‘breath test’ device, the size of a coin, which shows up the unique chemical changes in the breath of people suffering from lung cancer. What’s special about this is the fact that it is inexpensive and easy to read when compared to the other machines like gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy which require specially trained experts to handle them and interpret the results.
The normal human breath usually contains more than 200 different volatile organic compounds, the concentrations of most breath VOCs are so low, they can only be detected with sensitive laboratory instruments. The device has 36 little spots of compounds designed to be triggered by some of these compounds. These dots would change color if they interacted with the compounds.
Experts say while breath tests are a promising diagnostic technique, it does not appear that they will completely replace trusted methods such as biopsies and CT scans. This device gives hope for the early detection of lung cancer and aids doctors to give effective treatment to the patients.
Via: BBC