A so-called electronic nose can determine with great certainty that a patient does not have lung cancer. This results from the research of Sharina Kort, a trainee pulmonologist who recently earned her PhD on the subject at the University of Twente.
With lung cancer, it is very important to make the correct diagnosis in time. Breath analysis can play an important role in this. Especially since it is much more pleasant for the patient than when a biopsy is performed. “Research with an electronic nose may be a faster, cheaper and less tedious way to detect lung cancer than current studies,” let Short know in a message from the University of Twente.
Training
Since 2015, Kort has researched the possibilities of breath analysis to diagnose lung cancer. An electronic nose is trained in four hospitals with a total of 376 people to distinguish between people with and without lung cancer. Kort: “If the nose indicates that it is not lung cancer, we can actually say with 94% certainty that the person does not have lung cancer.” According to the future pulmonologist, the next step is to see at what point in the process the technology can be best used.
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