The electronic nose is able to provide useful information through the analysis of the volatile organic compounds in body fluids, such as exhaled breath, urine and blood. This paper focuses on the review of electronic nose studies and applications in the specific field of medical diagnostics based on the analysis of the gaseous headspace of human urine, in order to provide a broad overview of the state of the art and thus enhance future developments in this field. The research in this field is rather recent and still in progress, and there are several aspects that need to be investigated more into depth, not only to develop and improve specific electronic noses for different diseases, but also with the aim to discover and analyse the connections between specific diseases and the body fluids odour. Further research is needed to improve the results obtained up to now; the development of new sensors and data processing methods should lead to greater diagnostic accuracy thus making the electronic nose an effective tool for early detection of different kinds of diseases, ranging from infections to tumours or exposure to toxic agents.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland). 2016 Oct 14*** epublish ***
Laura Capelli, Gianluigi Taverna, Alessia Bellini, Lidia Eusebio, Niccolò Buffi, Massimo Lazzeri, Giorgio Guazzoni, Giorgio Bozzini, Mauro Seveso, Alberto Mandressi, Lorenzo Tidu, Fabio Grizzi, Paolo Sardella, Giuseppe Latorre, Rodolfo Hurle, Giovanni Lughezzani, Paolo Casale, Sara Meregali, Selena Sironi
Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica "Giulio Natta", piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy. ., Department of Urology, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Via Manzoni 56, Rozzano, Milan 20089, Italy. ., Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica "Giulio Natta", piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy. ., Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica "Giulio Natta", piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy. ., Department of Urology, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Via Manzoni 56, Rozzano, Milan 20089, Italy. ., Department of Urology, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Via Manzoni 56, Rozzano, Milan 20089, Italy. ., Department of Urology, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Via Manzoni 56, Rozzano, Milan 20089, Italy. ., Ospedale Humanitas Mater Domini, Via Gerenzano 2, Castellanza, Varese 21053, Italy. ., Ospedale Humanitas Mater Domini, Via Gerenzano 2, Castellanza, Varese 21053, Italy. ., Ospedale Humanitas Mater Domini, Via Gerenzano 2, Castellanza, Varese 21053, Italy. ., Italian Ministry of Defense's, Military Veterinary Center, CEMIVET, Via Provinciale Castiglionese, 201, Grosseto 58100, Italy. ., Department of Immunology and Inflammation, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Via Manzoni 56, Rozzano, Milan 20089, Italy. ., Italian Ministry of Defense's, Military Veterinary Center, CEMIVET, Via Provinciale Castiglionese, 201, Grosseto 58100, Italy. ., Italian Ministry of Defense's, Military Veterinary Center, CEMIVET, Via Provinciale Castiglionese, 201, Grosseto 58100, Italy. ., Department of Urology, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Via Manzoni 56, Rozzano, Milan 20089, Italy. ., Department of Urology, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Via Manzoni 56, Rozzano, Milan 20089, Italy. ., Department of Urology, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Via Manzoni 56, Rozzano, Milan 20089, Italy. ., Ospedale Humanitas Mater Domini, Via Gerenzano 2, Castellanza, Varese 21053, Italy. ., Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica "Giulio Natta", piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy. .