Tuberculosis kills around 1.7 million people a year in developing world
LONDON (AlertNet) - Scientists are developing a hand-held device called an Electronic Nose to detect tuberculosis (TB) on a patient’s breath, similar to a roadside alcohol breathalyser.
The technology could potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives in the developing world where TB kills around 1.7 million people a year, making it the second most deadly infectious disease after HIV/AIDS.
Scientists say the device could in future be adapted for early detection of lung cancer, pneumonia and other pulmonary diseases.
The battery-powered Electronic Nose uses sensors to spot telltale changes in molecules in the breath. It will produce a diagnosis in minutes – as opposed to weeks, as is the case with traditional tests.
“Our goal is to make the Electronic Nose widely available in poor, remote areas where tuberculosis often breeds and spreads, devastating so many lives,” lead researchers Professor Virander Chauhan and Dr Ranjan Nanda said in a statement.
The TB detector is a collaboration between the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in New Delhi, India, and Next Dimension Technologies in California.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Grand Challenges Canada announced on Monday a two-year $950,000 grant to develop the device.
“It’s estimated that with optimal diagnosis 400,000 lives could be saved each year,” Dr Peter Singer, chief executive of Grand Challenges Canada, told AlertNet.
“One thing that drew us to this particular innovation is that this is a good example of an Indian innovator solving an Indian problem, which will also help globally.
“The other thing that drew us is that it’s a bold idea with a potentially big impact.”
India is the country worst affected by tuberculosis, with nearly 2 million new cases and around 300,000 TB deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
AFFORDABLE
The funding will help determine whether the Electronic Nose could replace time-consuming testing with sputum samples that often involves several visits to a clinic, during which time a patient can continue to spread the disease.
“People do not think that diagnosis is life-saving but in the case of tuberculosis it really is, because if you have a tuberculosis patient deep in the village and they are not diagnosed they will likely die and infect a lot of others,” Singer said.
“Diagnosis can really be life-saving and diagnosis at the village level is a weak link in the chain.”
Singer said the device would be affordable and simple to use with minimal training.
“Just like the police can take the roadside breathalyser test right to your car window, this device could take the diagnosis of TB right to the door of the hut in your village,” he added.
Lead researcher Nanda said a person’s breath contained around 3,000 molecules. He and his colleagues had found that seven molecules significantly alter in abundance in patients with TB.
Tuberculosis is spread through the air by coughing, talking and spitting. If not treated, each person with active TB can infect on average 10 to 15 people a year.
Symptoms include coughing, sometimes with sputum or blood, chest pains, weakness, weight loss and fever.
Among the 15 countries with the highest estimated TB incidence rates, 13 are in Africa, while a third of all new cases are in India and China.
(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)
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