International team to create smartphone-compatible breathalyser device

An international research consortium has commenced work on a new project to create breathalyser screening technology that can be linked to a smartphone for consumer use.

The Sniffphone project is funded by a grant from the European Commission and aims to provide non-invasive, fast and cheap disease detection, allowing users to simply and efficiently screen their breath for signs of life-threatening disease.

It will work by using micro and nano-sensors that read exhaled breath and then transfer the information through the attached mobile phone to an information processing system for interpretation.

Contributors to the project include the technology firm Siemens, the Israeli company NanoVation-GS Israel, and a number of universities and research institutes from Germany, Austria, Finland, Ireland and Latvia.

Professor Hossam Haick of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology said the device "will be made tinier and cheaper than disease detection solutions currently, consume little power and, most importantly, it will enable immediate and early diagnosis that is both accurate and non-invasive".

This is an important advance because early diagnosis of serious conditions can increase the likelihood of effective treatment.