An electronic nose, which has led the way in diagnosing heart diseases from breath, has been developed at our university. This research was carried out under the coordination of Dr. Bilge Han Tozlu, academic staff at Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department of Hitit University. Also, two academic staff from Karadeniz Technical University Assoc. Prof. Dr. Önder Aydemir and Dr. Cemaleddin Şimşek participated as researchers. With the electronic nose in the diagnosis of heart diseases produced in this study, 97 percent of success was achieved.
Successful results were obtained in the diagnosis studies made with electronic nose in the Cardiology Clinic of Hitit University Erol Olçok Training and Research Hospital. Under the coordination of Head of Cardiology Department Prof. Dr. Yusuf Karavelioğlu, samples taken form breaths of patient and healthy people, who applied to the Cardiology Clinic, were tested. People participating in this study voluntarily filled the 10-liter disposable sterile bags given to them by blowing them with sterile mouthpieces. The breaths in these bags were recorded as data in the computer through the electronic nose with gas sensors inside.
A patent application was made in 2019 to convert the system into a device and put it into use. This academic work has provided an evidence that a device can be used for detecting heart diseases from breath, and has paved the way for the use of a new technology to assist in disease diagnosis methods. Tozlu and his team stated that if they can obtain ethical approval and hospital work permits, they will start a study on the detection of corona virus disease from breath.
