Diagnosis? Breathe.

Wouldn't it be great if, instead of having to go for a colonoscopy (and all that icky prep), you could just, well, breathe. A new device using people's breath is now diagnosing diseases from asthma to kidney and liver disease.

According to a story at mdtmag.com, "The highly sensitive, low-power, low-cost infrared emitter developed by Cambridge CMOS Sensors (CCMOSS) is capable of identifying more than 35 biomarkers present in exhaled breath in concentrations as low as one part per million, and is being developed for use as a non-invasive medical testing device and other applications."

In English this means you just breathe into a tube and software does all the rest.  Asthmatics (like me) emit higher than normal levels of nitric oxide (news to me!), while glucose can be a sign of kidney failure.

Experts are coming up with new ways to do just about anything non-invasively.  A new test can tell whether you have or will develop Parkinson's simply by talking on the phone.  The test picks out subtle voice differences, according to Max Little, at MIT, who invented it.

Whether you have Alzheimer's can now also be dedeuced from how you walk, or your gait. Even lung cancer is now being diagnosed, in some cases, by breath tests.

And even colonoscopies are under the knife for less painful and uncomfortable tests, with virtual colonoscopies (performed under CT scan), stool tests and other ways to check for colon cancer that just might not cause you to have to empty your body the night before.  (Though doctors still say the old way is best, in case polyps are found.)

It's only a matter of time before many painful or dreaded tests become far less onerous, according to medical experts.  Unfortunately, though, your colonoscopy is next week?  Get ready for the jug.























http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2013/04/new-device-could-make-diagnosis-simple-breathing?et_cid=3223502&et_rid=406288892&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.mdtmag.com%2fnews%2f2013%2f04%2fnew-device-could-make-diagnosis-simple-breathing
http://www.healthtechzone.com/topics/healthcare/articles/2012/07/23/300055-want-beat-alzheimers-walk.htm
http://www.healthtechzone.com/topics/healthcare/articles/2012/07/23/300009-could-have-parkinsons-check-phone.htm

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