Breathalyser could enable easy detection of diabetes

"Once patients are diagnosed with diabetes, they have to monitor their condition for the rest of their lives," said principal investigator Alexander Star. "Current monitoring devices are mostly based on blood glucose analysis, so the development of alternative devices that are noninvasive, inexpensive, and provide easy to use breath analysis could completely change the paradigm of self-monitoring diabetes." Together with his colleagues, Star used what's known as a sol-gel approach, a method for using small molecules to produce solid materials. The team combined titanium dioxide - an inorganic compound widely used in products such as makeup - with carbon nanotubes, which held the particles together. This method effectively combined the electrical properties of the tubes with the light-illuminating powers of the titanium dioxide. The researchers then created the sensor device by using these materials as an electrical semiconductor, measuring its electrical resistance. The team found that the sensor could be activated with light to produce an electrical charge. This prompted them to heat the titanium dioxide and carbon nanotube structure in the sensor under ultraviolet light to measure acetone vapours—which they found were lower than previously reported sensitivities. "Our measurements have excellent detection capabilities," noted Star. "If such a sensor could be developed and commercialised, it could transform the way patients with diabetes monitor their glucose levels." The team is currently working on a prototype of the sensor, with plans to test it on human breath samples soon.