Not only have you had too many drinks, you’ve also got a tumor. Researchers at the Israeli Institute of Technology have developed a device that can analyze your breath for particles that indicate you have lung cancer. The breathalyser, which works using gold nanoparticles to detect volatile organic compounds VOCs is potentially the cheapest and easiest way to screen for the deadly disease.

Researchers believe that they will be able to start clinical trials in just 2 to 3 years, meaning we may soon see breathalysers moving from the squad car to the doctor’s office.

Lung cancer kills more than 150,000 people in the US alone each year, and is one of the most difficult forms of cancer to detect early and efficiently. Current methods include complicated biopsies which have associated risks given the sensitive nature of the organ. While the Israeli device is not the first breathalyser hoping to detect lung cancer, it does have the potential to be the cheapest. Most others require complicated optical scans or mass spectrometry. The new device is also better at working in the humid and fluctuating atmosphere of your breath. Which, let’s admit, isn’t always as fresh as you hope.

While scientists have discovered 42 different VOCs that may indicate you have lung cancer, the IIT device concentrates on discovering just 4 of them. Hossam Haick, who lead the team, says that the breakthrough comes after building gold nanoparticles that stick very well to these VOCs. The nature of that stickiness is under wraps and is in the process of being patented.

With those sticky nanoparticles, Haick built a chemiresistor – a small device that changes resistance with chemical changes – that can detect VOCs at a level of just a few parts per billion. That’s a definite necessity as healthy levels 1-20 ppb and cancerous levels 10-100 ppb aren’t that far apart. Haick’s device may be sensitive enough, in fact, to determine what stage of lung cancer a patient has.

via Newest Breathalyser Knows if You Have Lung Cancer | Singularity Hub.