In small-scale tests, the nanoscale sensors distinguished a key change in the chemistry of the breath of people with lung cancer.
RT’s Three Key Takeaways:
- Highly Sensitive Detection: The Pt@InNiOx nanosensors detect isoprene levels as low as 2 parts per billion, surpassing previous sensors and meeting the sensitivity needed for lung cancer detection.
- Selectivity for Lung Cancer Indicators: These sensors can distinguish isoprene, a marker linked to lung cancer, from other compounds commonly found in breath, even in high humidity.
- Non-Invasive Screening Potential: Small-scale tests with a portable device demonstrated the sensors’ ability to differentiate lung cancer patients from healthy individuals, highlighting a promising tool for early lung cancer screening.
Exhaled breath contains chemical clues to what’s going on inside the body, including diseases like lung cancer. And devising ways to sense these compounds could help doctors provide early diagnoses—and improve patients’ prospects.
In a study in ACS Sensors, researchers report developing ultrasensitive, nanoscale sensors that in small-scale tests distinguished a key change in the chemistry of the breath of people with lung cancer.
People breathe out many gases, such as water vapor and carbon dioxide, as well as other airborne compounds. Researchers have determined that declines in one exhaled chemical—isoprene—can indicate the presence of lung cancer.
However, to detect such small shifts, a sensor would need to be highly sensitive, capable of detecting isoprene levels in the parts-per-billion (ppb) range. It would also need to differentiate isoprene from other volatile chemicals and withstand breath’s natural humidity.
Refining indium Oxide-based Sensors
Previous attempts to engineer gas sensors with characteristics like these have focused on metal oxides, including one particularly promising compound made with indium oxide. A team led by Pingwei Liu and Qingyue Wang set out to refine indium oxide-based sensors to detect isoprene at the level at which it naturally occurs in breath.
The researchers developed a series of indium(III) oxide (In2O3)-based nanoflake sensors. In experiments, they found one type, which they called Pt@InNiOx for the platinum (Pt), indium (In) and nickel (Ni) it contains, performed best. These Pt@InNiOx sensors:
- Detected isoprene levels as low as 2 ppb, a sensitivity that far surpassed earlier sensors.
- Responded to isoprene more than other volatile compounds commonly found in breath.
- Performed consistently during nine simulated uses.
More importantly, the authors’ real-time analysis of the nanoflakes’ structure and electrochemical properties revealed that Pt nanoclusters uniformly anchored on the nanoflakes catalyzed the activation of isoprene sensing, leading to the ultrasensitive performance.
Incorporating the Nanoflakes into a Portable Sensing Device
Finally, to showcase the potential medical use of these sensors, the researchers incorporated the Pt@InNiOx nanoflakes into a portable sensing device. Into this device they introduced breath collected earlier from 13 people, five of whom had lung cancer. The device detected isoprene levels lower than 40 ppb in samples from participants with cancer and more than 60 ppb from cancer-free participants.
The researchers say this sensing technology could provide a breakthrough in non-invasive lung cancer screening and has the potential to improve outcomes and even save lives, the researchers say.
Photo caption: These nanoflakes show promise in detecting lung cancer by sensing a change in breath chemistry.
Photo credit: Adapted from ACS Sensors