Woven Nanofiber Breath Sensor Detects Cancer and Diabetes

Jun-18-13 Researchers have developed a new nanofiber sensor able to detect lung cancer or diabetes via a real time breath test.

Building on the innovations that have promoted the development of smartphone diagnoses, the new sensor is made from tin dioxide (SnO2) nanofibers that have been electrospun from thin, wrinkled SnO2 nanotubes. The elongated, open pores of the tubes allow the gas molecules, such as the diabetes and lung cancer markers acetone and toluene, to be transmitted quickly to the sensing layers.

The nanofiber device is able to sense acetone or toluene at concentrations less than 100 parts per billion. According to Associate Professor Il-Doo Kim, "a trace concentration of toluene (30 ppb) in exhaled breath is regarded to be a distinctive early symptom of lung cancer, which we were able to detect with our prototype breath tester."

Image: The microstructural evolution of SnO2 nanofibers as a function of flow rate during electrospinning

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[MEDGADGET.COM]
[EUREKALERT]

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