Current Event: 02-14-08

Laser can detect diseases in your breath

There is a new laser technique that could allow for doctors to detect certain diseases, such as lung caner or asthma, simply by analyzing a patient's breath. The new study shows that this new laser system can identify certain compounds in a breath sample that may be signs of diseases. Doctors show interest towards using this device for routine use in doctor's offices. The advantages of this new technology would be that it would provide a painless and non-invasive way of detecting certain diseases. In addition it could enable physicians to detect some signs sooner which in return allows for quicker treatment.
Breath analysis systems have been around for several years, but a common problem with previous method is that they could only detect one or just a small amount of compounds in a breath sample which wouldn't provide enough information to determin is the person had a specific disease and so on.
So far this device was able to detect higher levels of carbon monoxide in the breath of a smoker compared to a non-smoking participant. It also has distinguished ammonia. Most importantly though this device would be most useful for detecting lung problems, such as lung cancer and asthma.

For more information click here