Nokia Phone Can Detect Diseases in Users' Breath

The UK-based Applied Nanodetectors Ltd (AND), a company that is specialized in nano-technology, has recently unveiled a prototype mobile phone that is capable of detecting a range of diseases while analyzing users' breath, which it exhibited at the International Nanotechnology Exhibition & Conference (nano tech 2009).

According to the company, the device has been manufactured by Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia. At the same time, AND also announced plans to partner with Japanese mobile operators for the release of the handset.

The prototyped phone is said to actually be a Nokia N95 which sports an integrated AND chip. The chip includes various sensors able to detect gases such as CO2, NOx and ammonia (NH3) and is able to determine the composition of a user's breath and then tabulate the density of each gas. By matching the results with the characteristics of various diseases, the handset is then able to detect the appropriate one.

According to Victor Higgs, managing director of AND, the matching process the chip runs is similar to the fingerprint matching. The company stated that the chip would be able to determine asthma, diabetes, lung cancer, a kind of food poisoning called "gastro" in Europe, oral odor level and breath alcohol concentration and much more.

Currently, there are already some devices on the market that can measure oral odor level, yet this is the first time a chip that can analyze so many gases is integrated into a mobile phone. According to the company, the phone is able to announce the user or his/hers doctor in case it detects one of the diseases mentioned above.

”We contacted Nokia first because mobile phone manufacturers have more influence than carriers in Europe,” Higgs said. “But we are intending to discuss business with carriers in Japan because they are more influential in this country. If the handset is commercialized in Japan, it will be just a matter of time before the handset spreads all over Asia.”

For the time being, no release date has been established for Europe either.