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Gregory J. Riely, MD, PhD
Gregory J. Riely, MD, PhD
Posted: Tuesday, December 10, 2024
According to Qingyue Wang, PhD, of the Polytechnic Institute of Zhejiang University, Quzhou, China, and colleagues, researchers may be able to detect lung cancer using the exhaled breath of patients. These investigators reportedly developed a novel nanoscale sensor—which they named Pt@InNiOx for the platinum (Pt), indium (In), and nickel (Ni) it contains—with the lowest limit of detection to date. Published in ACS Sensors, the results of this trial suggest this technology may offer antihumidity capacity and high selectivity.
“Our work not only provides a breakthrough in low-cost, noninvasive cancer screening through breath analysis,” the study authors continued, “but also advances the rational design of cutting-edge gas-sensing materials.”
A series of indium(III) oxide (In2O3)–based nanoflake sensors were created, and Pt@InNiOx appeared to be the most effective. According to the investigators, the source of its impressive sensitivity was detected from the activated conjugated structure of isoprene by platinum nanoclusters and from the enhanced isoprene adsorption, as well as from electron interaction attributable to nanoflake morphology.
These ultrasensitive nanoflakes were integrated into a miniature portable electronic device to allow lung cancer to be identified in patients with cancer who had expiratory isoprene levels below 40 parts per billion (ppb) and healthy individuals with isoprene levels above 60 ppb. The analysis collected the breath of 13 patients—5 of them with lung cancer—to demonstrate the medical potential of these sensors. Ultimately, the device was able to detect isoprene levels over 60 ppb in healthy participants and lower than 30 ppb in patients with lung cancer.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit pubs.acs.org.
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