TECH & SCIENCE / BREATHE SCIENCE
The Science
of Smell
Unique odor signatures in human breath are revolutionizing early cancer detection.
What We Can Tell From Smell
Starting from Hippocrates, medicine has used odor to assess people’s health and diagnose certain illnesses—from smelling gas gangrene on the battlefield, through excess bile or UT ulcers in urine, to diabetic ketoacidosis in the ER.
The basis for these odors are VOCs, Volatile Organic Compounds, found in various human secretions, including exhaled breath, which scientists have been studying for over five decades.
In 1971 Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling revealed that exhaled breath is a complex mixture comprised of about 250 VOCs, and by 1999, Phillips et al detected 3,400 of them. Changes in the concentration of these VOCs can be directly linked to specific diseases, including cancer, and, amazingly, even specific types of cancer.
So They Invented Smelling Machines
Or at least they tried…
For decades scientists and engineers have attempted to develop sensors and electronic noses to detect and differentiate among biomarkers that point at certain patient conditions, using analytical chemistry and spectrophotometry. But the complexity proved too great, and as of today, still no device has come even close to the olfactory range and sensitivity required for it to be reliable. The number of sensors that would be needed is simply not yet feasible.
The one system we know that’s up to the task is the natural olfactory system!
Traditional analytical methods often lack the sensitivity and resolution needed for early cancer detection. SpotitEarly's innovative approach leverages the exceptional olfactory abilities of trained canines, surpassing conventional techniques. Dogs can detect molecules at levels far beyond our traditional methods and identify characteristic scents in complex mixtures. This groundbreaking method shows immense promise in accurately identifying cancer-related VOCs, potentially leading to earlier and more reliable cancer detection. SpotitEarly is set to revolutionize cancer diagnostics with this novel approach.
Prof. Igal Bar-ilan
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY MENTORING, GUIDANCE AND TEACHING, BIOFORUM LTD.
Why Choose Breath?
Looking for inside information in the body? Look at VOCs.
Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs found in breath samples contain the particular odor signatures of Cancer. Since blood cells circulate around the entire body about once a minute on average, a sample collected over a few minutes of breathing contains largely diverse biomarkers with important information on metabolic shifts and signatures specific to different types of cancer.
The study of VOCs, has gained importance in diverse fields such as medical diagnosis, forensics and environmental health, opening the way to non-invasive medical testing for many health conditions.
Who Are the Best Cancer Odor Signature Detectives?
Amazingly, vast amounts of evidence show that dogs can be trained to accurately identify the odor signature of certain types of cancer earlier than any medical diagnostic device. For at least 20 years, studies have been conducted regarding the outstanding ability of canines to detect disease in human beings from their breath.
With proper training, their natural olfaction, and TLC, our furry best friends can do a major part of the job for us.
