The e-Nose has now been tested with more than 1800 patients in the test street of the GGD Amsterdam. About three quarters of those people could be determined by means of a simple breath test with the e-Nose that they not infected with the corona virus goods. This means that no additional time-consuming laboratory test was required in these individuals. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport has already ordered several hundred e-Nose ‘breathalyzer devices’. These will be used in the test streets of the GGD.
E-nose; the corona breathalyzer
“The SpiroNose measures ‘volatile organic components’. These are very small particles that are released when we exhale. The E-nose analyzes this composition and, after correcting the ambient air, determines whether someone has a certain disease or not, ”says Geert Groeneveld, internist-infectiologist at the Department of Internal Medicine of the LUMC.
The people whose presence of the corona virus could not be excluded by the e-Nose breathalyzer test still had to undergo an additional test. But that was only a quarter of the total number of people tested. It should be clear that the use of the e-Nose at the test locations not only saves time, but actually also increases the test capacity.
Negative corona test result in seconds
“The test provides a definite answer within seconds, instead of a few days. This means that three quarters of the people do not have to be quarantined. In addition, the test is much less annoying than the swab, because you only have to blow. The SpiroNose is therefore an important addition to the tests that are currently available, ”says Hans in ‘t Veen, lung specialist at Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland.
A few months ago, during the height of the first corona wave, the LUMC started together with the Franciscus Gasthuis & Vlietland research to the use of the e-Nose during the corona crisis. They wanted to know whether it was possible to ‘smell’ a corona infection on the basis of people’s breath. So they have not succeeded, but the final result is of course just as valuable.
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