Want to know if that lump on your neck is a benign cyst or something more ominous, like cancer? Want to know if that mole is simply a mole or maybe a sign of cancer? There are plenty of tests that you can take, but they can take a while and they are also expensive. However what if you could just breathe into a device and it will tell you the results in seconds?
Turns out that is a possibility too, thanks to scientists who at The National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) based in Japan who developed a sensor that where breathed upon, will be able to analyze the person’s odour and detect if there might be traces of cancer. How this works is a film is installed in the sensor, which in reality is a tiny chip.
It will be able to detect substances in a person’s breath to determine if there might be traces of cancer. Apparently this is because people who have cancer are found to have certain substances in the odour of their breath, so just by exhaling on the sensor, it should be able to provide a reading. If this sounds familiar, it is because last year, the Chongqing University in China developed something similar except that it was aimed specifically at lung cancer.
It can also be paired with a smartphone, meaning that cancer detecting kits could be easily purchased off the shelves in pharmacies just like you would a home pregnancy kit. The best part is that it reportedly costs a few hundred yen to make, meaning that it will be affordable. However don’t hold your breath (pun intended) because according to its researchers, it will take about 6 years to develop before it is prime for practical use.
Not to mention they will need to fine tune it further to improve accuracy, and let’s not forget all the regulatory hurdles and approvals needed for it to become commercially available, but either way it does seem like a good start.
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