Philadelphia Doctors Creating a Breath-Sniffing Cancer Detection Machine
By Lynne Adkins
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Doctors at a local cancer center are working on a machine that will sniff out cancer just like some dogs can.
Researchers know that dogs have proven they can detect cancer by smell. Now, doctors are working on a machine that will do the same thing.
Dr. Hossein Borghaei, director of lung cancer risk assessment at Fox Chase Cancer Center, is working on a device he calls Nano Nose:
"...a handheld device that somebody can simply breathe into it and apply some diagnostic technology to it and decide if there is malignancy or not."
He says early tests show the machine can not only detect lung cancer at the earliest stages but can also determine which subtype of cancer is present -- all with a simple, non-invasive test that requires just a breath.
