Figure 3

Breath-print of VOCs by the electronic Nose. Breath samples can also be analyzed using an eNose. The eNose consists of an array of nanosensors. When these sensors are exposed to a mixture of VOCs, a change in their electrical resistance is induced, leading to the production of a ‘breath-print’. This breath-print represents the complex mixture of exhaled VOCs and can be used for pattern-recognition algorithms in multiple diseases. A limitation of the eNose is that it is unable to analyze individual VOCs. In the figure two exhaled breath-prints analyzed with the eNose are demonstrated (purple line represents sample 1, green line represents sample 2). The y axis represents the change in resistance (Δ R/Rt = 0) of each of the 28 sensors (1–28). Courtesy: Paul Brinkman, Niki Fens, Peter Sterk, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.