These sensors promise to diagnose lung cancer using your breath

In the future, important advances may be made in the diagnosis of lung cancer. A team of researchers from Zhejiang University in China has improved sensors that can detect differences in the composition of breath.specifically, a decrease in the level of a molecule called isoprene, which is the beginning of this condition. The study was published in the journal AC current sensors and it will be released right in November, the month dedicated to raising lung cancer awareness.

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How do the new sensors work?

The air we exhale is made up of many different molecules: there is carbon dioxide and a lot of water vapor, as well as other volatile molecules, including isoprene. Previous studies have concluded that decreased levels of isoprene in exhaled breath may be a sign of lung cancer. However, these differences are not so easy to grasp because the unit of measurement is “parts per million”; Sensitive sensors that are resistant to breath humidity are required, and so far attempts have not been successful.

Chinese researchers say their indium oxide sensors can detect isoprene at levels found in human breath. The sensors are made from “nanoflakes” of platinum, indium and nickel and are capable of detecting isoprene levels as low as 2 parts per billion. Sensitivity never achieved by other models.

Once the specifications were determined, the scientists inserted the nanowire sensors into a portable detection device and ran several tests: They administered breath samples collected from 13 people; five of them were diagnosed with lung cancer. The device detected isoprene levels above 60 ppb in samples from healthy participants and below 40 ppb in samples from patients with the disease. The authors suggest that this technology could be a breakthrough in non-invasive lung cancer screening and potentially save lives.

Article originally published in WIRED Italy. Adapted by Alondra Flores.