TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Just Breathe: New, Painless Diabetes Detection

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 05-28-10 | Comments

Using nanotechnology, Swiss researchers have developed a breath sensor to rapidly detect Type 1 diabetes. Blood tests and finger pricks could become a thing of the past.

As the active ingredient in most nail polish removers, acetone seems an unlikely candidate to revolutionize medical testing. But, according to a recent report by the American Chemical Society, this compound may be the key to future diagnoses of diabetes.

While most people have an acetone concentration of 900 ppb (particles per billion) in their breath, diabetics often have twice this amount. Sotiris Pratsinis, a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, has recently developed a breath sensor able to detect these high acetone levels, which indicate the presence of diabetes. The sensor is also able to diagnose ketoacidosis, a dangerous insulin deficiency indicated by especially high levels of acetone in the breath.

Pratsinis� device uses nanotechnology to detect acetone. Containing ceramic nanoparticles deposited between a set of gold electrodes, the sensor acts like an electrical resistor. Acetone-filled air causes the resistance to lessen and more electricity to pass through the electrodes. While the breath of a healthy person causes little change in the resistance, the breath of a diabetic patient causes it to suddenly drop. Crucially, the sensor is even able to measure extremely moist air, such as breath.

The tiny device employs nanotechnology to diagnose diabetes (source: ZTH Zurich).

Current methods of diagnosing diabetes are slow and inconvenient. In one method, patients cannot eat or drink for 8 hours, and then must undergo a blood test. For a definitive diagnosis, this test must be performed at least twice. A different method requires a patient to ingest an unpleasant glucose drink and then have his/her blood drawn at repeated intervals. These exhaustive tests can quickly rack up high medical bills.

The newly developed breath sensor would eliminate these existing disadvantages and allow for an instant, reliable diagnosis. It would also be a noninvasive option for patients fearing needles. Pratsinis imagines that the technology might be used by patients at home for day-to-day insulin measurements. Finger-prick blood testing thus could become obsolete. In addition, the sensor could become an invaluable tool for emergency rooms to rapidly detect diabetic emergencies.

Pratsinis envisions that nanotechnological breath sensors will be useful in diagnosing other chronic illnesses. For now, this device may revolutionize the practice of treating diabetes.