The E-nose Knows

So you're sitting at your doctor's office wearing nothing but a paper gown, and the doctor starts running down a list of questions. Hay fever? Nope. Heart problems? Nope.

Do you smoke?

Most people, of course, answer in the negative. To say "sure, Doc, I have a pack a day habit" is not only a great way to invite a lecture, but also certain to get you on the short list for higher insurance rates. And who wants that?

The problem with lying about your smoking habit, of course, is that it means your doctor doesn't really understand your health history. You may be at risk for problems related to the interaction of smoking and certain drugs or procedures. But if you lie, unless you doctor goes through your pockets, no one will know any better.

Until now.

According to an article in NewScientist, "A team led by Paul Thomas at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, tweaked a commercially available e-nose so that it would detect the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the breath of a person who had smoked a cigarette. ... The e-nose uses an array of 32 sensors ... [which] correctly identified 37 out of 39 volunteers as either smokers or non-smokers."

So far, the e-nose has a few glitches. It has a tough time, for example, telling if carbon monoxide is from traffic fumes or tobacco breath. Still, though, hospitals are interested in making the noninvasive system part of their regular arsenal of preoperative tests.

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