Researchers create e-nose that can detect Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Researchers from the Universite Paris-Saclay (Paris, France) in collaboration with scientists at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology (Haifa, Israel) have developed an artificial nose that can detect Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH).

The device termed e-nose can detect PAH from the breath of an individual. PAH is the condition of having severe high blood pressure due to obstructions in the pulmonary arteries impairing blood flow within the lungs.

Patients with PAH have a life expectancy of 5-years following diagnosis. However the disease can be managed if correct diagnosis is made earlier.

Combining the expertise of the French team specializing in PAH with those of the Israeli team in nanotechnology, the teams developed an artificial nose specialized to detect PAH in its early stages.

A team of researchers led by Hossam Haick, lead researcher at Technion (Israel Institute of Technology, first developed the e-nose to diagnose cancer.

Noting comparable characteristics between PAH and cancer, Sylvia Cohen-Kaminsky from Universite Paris-Saclay contacted Haick to see whether the device could also be applied in diagnosing PAH.

“The gold standard for the diagnosis of PAH is right heart catheterism, which can make the right diagnosis, but it is invasive, risky and unsuitable for widespread screening,” commented Cohen-Kaminsky.

Cohen-Kaminsky and Haick collaborated together to form an international associated lab between their institutions to develop and trial a device dedicated to detecting PAH.

Gold nanoparticles together with chemical modules were utilized to construct the device. This novel instrument will enable a simple, quick and patient-friendly diagnosis of PAH.

“The e-nose is a non-invasive and safe detection method that means general screening of PAH could eventually be made available.”

“With this new technology, we save time compared to existing screening techniques to date that long mobilize highly qualified staff to perform especially echocardiograms and stress tests”, remarked Marc Humbert, Director of the mixed research unit INSERM and a leading expert in pulmonary hypertension.

At present a large clinical trial led by Humbert and sponsored by the by the public hospital system in Paris, Assistance Publique Hopitaux de Paris, is underway for validation in PAH.

The team hope to identify new biomarkers and therapeutic targets in PAH.

Sources: Press Release; Inserm Press Release