D-Bone
Jun 16th '06, 05:18 PM
Doctors in the future may sniff patients with an electronic "nose" to detect telltale odors released as a result of disease and various other health conditions.
The technology replicates ? even improves on ? human and other animal olfactory systems, according to a recent announcement made by the European Union Information Society?s Technologies Program.
The mechanical sniffer, currently undergoing development and testing as part of a project called SPOT-NOSED, could dramatically change how doctors diagnose illness.
The technology behind the device was inspired by the human nose, but its effectiveness is comparable to more sensitive animal noses.
"The human nose is not especially well suited for odor recognition, as compared to the noses of dogs or rats," said ?scar Ruiz, who is working on the project.
Read More: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060612/patientsniffer_hea.html
The technology replicates ? even improves on ? human and other animal olfactory systems, according to a recent announcement made by the European Union Information Society?s Technologies Program.
The mechanical sniffer, currently undergoing development and testing as part of a project called SPOT-NOSED, could dramatically change how doctors diagnose illness.
The technology behind the device was inspired by the human nose, but its effectiveness is comparable to more sensitive animal noses.
"The human nose is not especially well suited for odor recognition, as compared to the noses of dogs or rats," said ?scar Ruiz, who is working on the project.
Read More: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060612/patientsniffer_hea.html