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Spotted: Every time we breathe, we release a snapshot of our health into the air. Until now, this breath snapshot has gone unused, as there’s been no way to interpret the information it contains. Startup Noze hopes to change this, however, with a fully integrated diagnostic breathalyser capable of decoding these health signals in real time and almost anywhere.

The company’s digital nose, called DiagNoze, can detect and identify compounds we exhale in real-world settings with sufficient accuracy to diagnose disease and ill health. The device does this by recognising distinct volatile organic compounds (VOCs) we breathe out, which act as biomarkers that can signify the presence of illnesses such as tuberculosis (TB).

The handheld device is based on next-generation machine intelligence and a sensor developed using NASA’s technology. DiagNoze could be used to provide cost-effective diagnostics in areas where access to testing is hindered by limited availability, high costs, and slow processing times. By offering rapid and cost-effective results, Noze could shorten the time to diagnosis, improving patient outcomes by facilitating earlier interventions.

The company recently announced that it had received a new grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, bringing the foundation’s total grant funding to Noze to $1.8 million. The grant will fund a clinical study aimed at using DiagNoze to detect TB in high-burden countries. The goal is for the technology to help enable universal access and play a vital role in the global fight against the spread of TB, a disease that kills around 1.3 million people each year.

Written By: Lisa Magloff