Simple Breath Test Could Detect Cancer, Heart Failure
BOSTON (CBS) - Any patient knows medical tests can be cumbersome and painful. Researchers are now working on a less invasive approach that can be as simple as breathing.
Pat Patwardhan went through a battery of tests in which he was poked and prodded to determine a diagnosis of heart failure. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic then asked him to participate in a study to see if they could also diagnose his condition through a breathing apparatus.
"I just blow in a balloon," said Patwardhan. "They can analyze and then come back with answers."
The machine he tested was part of a new generation of diagnostic devices that analyze the patient's breath. There is hope this approach could apply to many common disorders: some cancers; liver disease; kidney failure; diabetes; asthma; and tuberculosis.
Dr. Raed Dweik, the director of the Pulmonary Vascular Program at the Cleveland Clinic, explained "Our blood goes through the lungs. Anything in the blood that is potentially volatile at body temperature, we can detect in the breath. The limitation in the past has been because we didn't have the technology to be able to measure these things in breath because they're present in very small quantities."
Preliminary results have been encouraging. In one test, severe heart failure was detected with 100% accuracy. There's hope this is just the beginning.
"We could screen many, many more people for lung cancer, and probably save many, many more lives," said Dr. Norman Edelman of the American Lung Association.
Another goal is to make the machines smaller, so they can be used in all kinds of settings. Dr. Dweik added, "Our goal is to build a miniaturized device that is very similar to the breathalyzer test. If we build that, then eventually it can be tested at home or in the clinic or anywhere else.
