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Newsletter Archive
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Trend Alert: Breath testing for medical diagnosis
 Smell, in the past, played a much more significant role in diagnosis of disease, than it does today. It may soon do so again. Research in recent years has shown that the breath of cancer patients, and also people suffering from other diseases such as asthma, diabetes, renal or liver failure, has sufficiently different profiles which can be used for increasingly accurate diagnosis. The breakthrough may be in finding much cheaper ways of capitalising on this knowledge by using either a 'breathalyser' or even specially trained dogs.Researchers in the US have developed a breathalyser which uses chemical reactions to identify 'patterns' on a 'colorimetric array' - a piece of paper with 36 chemically sensitive dye spots onto which patients breathe. Whereas mass spectroscopy would identify the relevant compounds, it would also be very expensive. This approach uses pattern matching based on the reactions of the dyes Dogs' sense of smell, which is far more acute than humans' and able to detect smells at very low levels of concentration - is also being explored as a potentially cheaper and quicker approach to early diagnosis. Early tests showed a 41% level of accuracy, in dogs identifying cancer correctly when smelling urine samples. Dogs have now been trained to smell breath too, and in a trial involving several thousand dogs, the accuracy levels were over 80%. Why is this important? Earlier diagnosis and survival rates - Early detection of cancers often significantly improves survival rates after treatment. These approaches are non invasive and relatively easy to administer. Wider screening and more preventive testing among those at risk of cancer could save lives. More effective drug use - These approaches may also be appropriate for other areas of diagnosis, with one possible application being to differentiate between viral and bacteria based illness - which might reduce the use of antibiotics, health care costs and drug resistant bacteria. Self administered/ walk in testing - Easy to use diagnostic kits are moving into more areas of health care as consumers become more confident and more interested in preventing disease. Developments such as walk in diagnostic check up centres or even Over the Counter sales of diagnostic kits are becoming more of a reality - although still some years off. Sheila Moorcroft, Research Director, Shaping Tomorrow Using this Trend Alert: A six-step guide Want to contribute a Trend Alert? Please email Kerry Richardson if you would like to contribute a Trend Alert on foresight, strategic thinking or change management and earn money from publishing your full briefings. Want to re-publish this Trend Alert? We give our permission for anyone to republish this Alert on the following conditions:
Latest Insights Every week we add many new insights to Shaping Tomorrow. We offer a hand-picked selection of resources, reports and publications from commercial organisations, government agencies, NGOs, think tanks and other public interest organizations. Our aim is to alert you to upcoming changes from which you can explore issues of interest further. During the past week, we have added new insights to our database as follows: 31 environment 26 industries 22 lifestyles 15 technology 14 organization 13 economics 12 healthcare 7 politics 5 society By viewing the new insights you can anticipate how tomorrow will be different for you and your organisation. Only Shaping Tomorrow members can regularly access the full database. Membership costs just 25 British Pounds (+17.5% tax for those based in the European Union), or $49 in the United States. You can pay using one of many credit cards directly at our web site. Why put yourself at a disadvantage to our 13,787 members and your competition when you can join today; you won't find a more comprehensive trends service at such low cost anywhere! Event: Lab on old and new energy
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| Last Updated: 25 May 2013 |
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