(July 8, 2015) University
of Adelaide researchers are developing a laser system for fast, non-invasive,
onsite breath analysis for disease, potentially enabling screening for a range
of diseases including diabetes, infections and various cancers in the future.
The researchers have developed an instrument they equate to
an “optical dog’s nose” which uses a special laser to measure the molecular
content of a sample of gas.
“Rather than sniffing out a variety of smells as a dog
would, the laser system uses light to “sense” the range of molecules that are
present in the sample,” says Dr James Anstie, Australian Research Council (ARC)
Research Fellow with the University’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced
Sensing (IPAS).
“Those molecules are by-products of metabolic processes in
the body and their levels change when things go wrong. There have been good
studies undertaken around the world which show that diseases like lung and
oesophageal cancer, asthma and diabetes can be detected in this way, even
before external symptoms are showing.”
Breath analysis is a relatively new field being pursued
around the world. But the system being developed offers almost-instant results,
high sensitivity and the ability to test for a range of molecules at once ─
making it promising for broadscale health screening.