Electronic tongues to detect early stage bladder cancer

Bladder cancer vigorously affecting people keeping in view the fact researchers create a new and cheaper technology titled ‘electronic tongues’ that diagnose cancer in early stage.

Electronic tongues to detect early stage bladder cancer

The research team from Spain developed “electronic tongues” that use sensors to copy human taste. The device is designed to examine biofluid to detect diseases.

The researchers reviewed earlier studies of metabolic differences in the urine of people that developed bladder cancer. Some findings suggested using techniques, such as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, to check the metabolic profiles of patients before and after surgery.

“The preliminary results of this study, with a 75 percent accuracy rate, indicate that the shapes of current waveforms induced in urine through pulse voltammetry could allow, with an appropriate processing of the data, for a noninvasive diagnosis in the monitoring of patients with bladder cancer,” Carmen Martínez Bisbal, one of the study authors, said. 

The researchers presented the application of electronic tongues for detecting bladder cancer at the XIII International Workshop on Sensors and Molecular Recognition, which took place in the Higher Technical Design Engineering School in Valencia.

Immediate detection of bladder cancer is important since the disease is known for a high relapse rate. Monitoring patients could help improve treatment and manage their condition.