Review: A review of advanced techniques for detecting plant diseases

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(08)61452-X.pdf

Endotyping asthma: new insights into key pathogenic mechanisms in a complex, heterogeneous disease

Electronic-nose devices have received considerable attention in the field of sensor technology during the past twenty years, largely due to the discovery of numerous applications derived from research in diverse fields of applied sciences. Recent applications of electronic nose technologies have come through advances in sensor design, material improvements, software innovations and progress in microcircuitry design and systems integration. The invention of many new e-nose sensor types and arrays, based on different detection principles and mechanisms, is closely correlated with the expansion of new applications. Electronic noses have provided a plethora of benefits to a variety of commercial industries, including the agricultural, biomedical, cosmetics, environmental, food, manufacturing, military, pharmaceutical, regulatory, and various scientific research fields. Advances have improved product attributes, uniformity, and consistency as a result of increases in quality control capabilities afforded by electronic-nose monitoring of all phases of industrial manufacturing processes. This paper is a review of the major electronic-nose technologies, developed since this specialized field was born and became prominent in the mid 1980s, and a summarization of some of the more important and useful applications that have been of greatest benefit to man.

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Applications and advances in electronic-nose technologies.

An electronic nose in the discrimination of patients with non-small cell lung cancer and COPD.

Breath tests cover the fraction of nitric oxide in expired gas (FENO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), variables in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and other measurements. For EBC and for FENO, official recommendations for standardised procedures are more than 10 years old and there is none for exhaled VOCs and particles. The aim of this document is to provide technical standards and recommendations for sample collection and analytic approaches and to highlight future research priorities in the field. For EBC and FENO, new developments and advances in technology have been evaluated in the current document. This report is not intended to provide clinical guidance on disease diagnosis and management. Clinicians and researchers with expertise in exhaled biomarkers were invited to participate. Published studies regarding methodology of breath tests were selected, discussed and evaluated in a consensus-based manner by the Task Force members. Recommendations for standardisation of sampling, analysing and reporting of data and suggestions for research to cover gaps in the evidence have been created and summarised. Application of breath biomarker measurement in a standardised manner will provide comparable results, thereby facilitating the potential use of these biomarkers in clinical practice.

/pdf/a-european-respiratory-society-technical-standard-exhaled-2pn4ecxild.pdf

A European respiratory society technical standard : exhaled biomarkers in lung disease

Background Exhaled breath contains thousands of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that could serve as biomarkers of lung disease. Electronic noses can distinguish VOC mixtures by pattern recognition. Objective We hypothesized that an electronic nose can discriminate exhaled air of patients with asthma from healthy controls, and between patients with different disease severities. Methods Ten young patients with mild asthma (25.1 ± 5.9 years; FEV 1 , 99.9 ± 7.7% predicted), 10 young controls (26.8 ± 6.4 years; FEV 1 , 101.9 ± 10.3), 10 older patients with severe asthma (49.5 ± 12.0 years; FEV 1 , 62.3 ± 23.6), and 10 older controls (57.3 ± 7.1 years; FEV 1 , 108.3 ± 14.7) joined a cross-sectional study with duplicate sampling of exhaled breath with an interval of 2 to 5 minutes. Subjects inspired VOC-filtered air by tidal breathing for 5 minutes, and a single expiratory vital capacity was collected into a Tedlar bag that was sampled by electronic nose (Cyranose 320) within 10 minutes. Smellprints were analyzed by linear discriminant analysis on principal component reduction. Cross-validation values (CVVs) were calculated. Results Smellprints of patients with mild asthma were fully separated from young controls (CVV, 100%; Mahalanobis distance [M-distance], 5.32), and patients with severe asthma could be distinguished from old controls (CVV, 90%; M-distance, 2.77). Patients with mild and severe asthma could be less well discriminated (CVV, 65%; M-distance, 1.23), whereas the 2 control groups were indistinguishable (CVV, 50%; M-distance, 1.56). The duplicate samples replicated these results. Conclusion An electronic nose can discriminate exhaled breath of patients with asthma from controls but is less accurate in distinguishing asthma severities. Clinical implication These findings warrant validation of electronic noses in diagnosing newly presented patients with asthma.

An electronic nose in the discrimination of patients with asthma and controls

The invention provides an apparatus for combined imaging and analyzing of a biological structure by means of ultrasonic and spectroscopic techniques. The inventive diagnostic apparatus is adapted for simultaneous acquisition of ultrasonic echo signals and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic signals. The invention makes particular use of a contrast agent that on the one hand provides enhanced reflection efficiency for ultrasonic echo signals and on the other hand enables surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. The contrast agent comprises conventional microbubbles as well as solid metal nano-particles or combinations thereof. The invention therefore effectively provides non-invasive in vivo analysis of blood as well as detection and visualization of a blood flow.

Combined ultrasonic imaging and spectroscopic molecular analysis

A flexible flat panel display which exhibits fabric-like behavior, comprising a substrate (10) formed of an elastomeric material, preferably with a layer of textile material (14) embedded therein. The substrate (10) is arranged and configured so as to have a modulus of elasticity such that the display can be curved over at least two radii of curvature simultaneously and/or stretched in one or more directions under normal working conditions. The resultant display can be incorporated into, for example, clothing and the like. A method of manufacturing a flexible flat panel display is also described.

Nico Willard

Papers

An electronic nose in the discrimination of patients with asthma and controls

Combined ultrasonic imaging and spectroscopic molecular analysis

Flexible Flat Panel Displays

Optimization of sample preparation for grazing emission X-ray fluorescence in micro- and trace analysis applications