Toshiba Reveals its Disease Detecting Breathalyser

Electronics giant Toshiba has unveiled its new prototype model of a breathalyser that can detect a wide range of diseases just by users blowing into the machine.

The device, which is about the size of a small dishwasher, takes just 30 seconds to detect health issues. Users blow into the mouthpiece several times. The machine then analyzes the user’s breath for several gases like acetaldehyde, methane and acetone, all of which can that indicate that the person is suffering from various health problems such as diabetes, stomach issues and even hangovers.

“A breath exhaled into the machine is irradiated with an infrared laser, and then trace gases are detected” the company said in a statement.

Toshiba hopes to expand the number of gases and diseases that the machine can detect and plans to start commercial production next year.

[Image via news.com]

SOURCE: http://phys.org/news/2014-03-toshiba-unveils-disease-detecting-breathalyser.html