In the future, smell may be the way to perform an accurate diagnostics test for almost any kind of disease.
Scientists are trying to use a new technology to "smell" diseases a human nose cannot.
Currently, researchers in Israel are developing a breath test called Na-Nose that can detect almost 17 diseases, the Daily Mail reported. A team in the US are also testing a device in Malawi, Africa to identify the "breath signature of malaria".
Everyone's breath has unique chemical compounds that no one else possesses. It depends on age, race and biological factors.
Both technologies are comparing chemical compounds found in healthy breath to that of someone who is sick with a disease.
While neither device is ready for a clinical trial, scientists are hopeful that smell-testing could make diagnostics a cheaper and painless process for patients.
The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology team behind Na-Nose claim the device can detect forms of cancer and Parkinson’s disease and has proven to be 86% accurate.
Researchers hope that this method will be able to provide more information than blood tests can.
