Artificial Intelligence-Powered Electronic 'Nose' Can Accurately Sniff Out Cancers

A new sensor may be able to detect cancer by'sniffing' blood samples. An odor based test that detects vapors from human blood plasma samples was able to tell the difference between benign and cancerous cells with up to 95% accuracy, according to work presented this week at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Philadelphia. The study was led by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Perelman School of Medicine and utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to analyze molecules called'volatile organic compounds,' (VOCs). These are released from cells in blood and tissues and the'electronic nose' contains nanosensors which are calibrated to detect VOCs. The researchers took samples from 20 patients with ovarian cancer, 20 with non-cancerous ovarian tumors and 20 people who had no tumors at all and found that the electronic nose could tell apart the ovarian cancer samples with a 95% accuracy.