Electronic nose’ may sniff out lung infections
Technology can speed up pneumonia diagnoses
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center (UPMC) in Philadelphia are attempting to adapt a computerized technology currently used in the food industry to achieve early detection and identification of lung infections in intubated patients.
The technology uses a system of electron- sensitive sensors that respond to differences in the make-up of individual molecules in a patient’s breath sample. The tiny sensors are designed to pick up patterns of resistance to the molecules and transfer them visually to a computer screen.
Checking for bacteria
The resistance patterns then can be read and "compared to other molecules to alert nurses and physicians of the presence of certain infectious bacteria in the lungs," says C. William Hanson III, MD, associate chief of anesthesia and critical care medicine at UPMC and the lead developer of the application.
When fully developed, the sensor-based technology will be incorporated into a small hardware component that can be attached to the patient’s respirator. The unit, which will function like an electronic nose, will continuously monitor, or sniff out, the patient’s breath samples and notify clinicians at the first sign of a bacterial presence, Hanson says.
Significantly reduces diagnosis delays
"This technology can significantly curtail the needless delay of waiting for conventional diagnostic tools such as X-rays and white cell counts to confirm that the patient has pneumonia," Hanson says.
At some hospitals, the delay involves hours and sometimes a full day, while the infection, if present, spreads, he explains. The monitoring system can alert clinicians immediately of a problem.
"The sooner we can get a handle on the infection, the sooner we can control the consequences and avoid the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, which pose their own set of problems for patients," he adds.
A persistent problem with broad-spectrum antibiotics has been the waning effectiveness of their long-term use as effective agents against infectious bacteria.
However, the "electronic nose" is currently in beta testing and will not be ready for clinical use for some time, Hanson says. Food manufacturers are working with the technology to sniff out spoilage and detect toxins in meats, fruits, and vegetables.
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