Perena Gouma, associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Stony Brook University has invented and developed novel sensor nanotechnologies that instantly detect and monitor disease markers by simply exhaling into a handheld device, the Single Breath Disease diagnostics Breathalyzer. Her research is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Professor Gouma, who is also director of the Center for Nanomaterials and Sensor Development, and her research team, demonstrate how the new nanomedicine tool is designed to enable individuals to monitor signaling gas — such as acetone in exhaled breath — with their own inexpensive, non-invasive breath analyzer. The NSF is now reporting on the development of this device in its online magazine, Science Nation.
As reported in the article, the device is still being evaluated clinically and is not yet for sale. But the research team envisions that within a few years, you might be able to self-detect diseases with a device that should cost under $20. “People can get something over the counter and it’s going to be a first response or first detection type of device,” said Gouma. “This is really a nanomedicine application that is affordable because it is based on inexpensive ceramic materials that can be mass produced at low cost.”
Add comment