Novel Detector for Disease Diagnosis and Assessment

A research consortium developing a compact, noninvasive detector for life-threatening disease has received a EUR 6 million grant from the European Commission (EC; Brussels, Belgium). The grant will enable the consortium build a link between the detector and smartphones as part of the SNIFFPHONE project.

The product is intended for use in early-stage, rapid, and inexpensive detection of serious disease in high-risk groups in the general population. The product uses an 'electronic nose' consisting of micro- and nano-sensors to analyze a person's exhaled breath. The data is transferred by the smartphone to an information processing system for disease diagnosis.

The technology was developed at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (Haifa, Israel) by Prof. Hossam Haick, Dr. Gregory Shuster, and Sagi Gliksman.

The research consortium includes NanoVation-GS Israel (Ramat Yishai, Israel), universities and research institutes from Latvia, Ireland, Finland, and Germany, and the company Siemens (Munich, Germany).

Professor Haick commented, “The SNIFFPHONE is a winning solution. It will be made tinier and cheaper than disease detection solutions currently, consume little power, and most importantly, it will enable immediate and early diagnosis that is both accurate and non-invasive. Early diagnosis can save lives, particularly in life-threatening diseases such as cancer.”

Related Links:
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
NanoVation-GS Israel
Siemens