Odoreader
The smell of urine is not usually associated with having life-saving properties. But a new UK device called 'Odoreader' can analyze urine odors and determine if bladder cancer is present. Although this is a pilot study, it has positive implications for early bladder cancer diagnosis and improved patient. Several studies published in the last decade have suggested that chemicals/metabolite levels visible in our breath can indicate the risks for diseases such as stomach cancer and heart failure, and that the scent of gases in urine could be used to test for bladder cancer. Building on such findings and their earlier attempts at building an electronic nose, a team from the University of Liverpool and the University of the West of England (Bristol) recently disclosed a new invention, the Odoreader. The device uses sensors to sniff out the chemicals in urine and delivers an accurate bladder cancer diagnosis within 30 minutes.
"Bladder cancer is said to be the most expensive cancer to treat, due to repeated scopes to inspect the development of the cancer cells in the bladder. ODOREADER has the potential to dramatically cut those costs by preventing scopes"
While incidence rates are declining for most cancers, they are increasing among both men and women for melanoma of the skin and cancers of the liver, thyroid and pancreas.
What's inside:
The Odoreader is a volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor, which detects chemicals in gases present. The team trained it to look for the relevant chemicals using 98 different urine samples. It was then tested using samples from 24 patients suffering from bladder cancer, and 74 samples from those with other non-cancerous bladder problems. Using just nine biomarkers, the system correctly diagnosed all the cancer patients and 70 out of 74 cases where cancer was not present. The results are very promising, but the 6 per cent error rate is yet to be overcome.
"These results are very encouraging for the development of new diagnostic tools for bladder cancer, but we now to look at larger samples of patients to test the device further before it can be used in hospitals", says Professor Chris Probert of the University of Liverpool.
