Poate AI identifica cancerul pulmonar în stadiu incipient din biomarkeri respiratori folosind „electronic noses” portabile ?

Anumi compuși organici volatili din respirație se modifică în prezența cancerului pulmonar incipient, chiar înainte ca imaginile medicale să detecteze tumori. Nasurile electronice alimentate de inteligență artificială ar putea analiza probe de respirație în clinici sau farmacii. Acest lucru ar putea reduce dependența de biopsii invazive și de scanările CT. Cu toate acestea, factorii de mediu precum fumatul sau poluarea aerului pot influența rezultatele.

Background

Researchers have demonstrated that portable electronic noses (e-noses) can detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath with promising sensitivity and specificity for early-stage lung cancer screening. A 2022 meta-analysis reported pooled sensitivity of about 85% and specificity of 87% across multiple studies using machine-learning models trained on breath-chemistry data. Certain volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath change in presence of early lung cancer, even before imaging detects tumors, and AI-powered e-noses could analyze breath samples in clinics or pharmacies, reducing reliance on invasive diagnostics. However, environmental factors like smoking or air pollution may confound results. Furthermore, real-world deployment faces challenges such as sensor drift, environmental confounders like smoking or diet, and the need for larger, multi-center validation cohorts. Regulatory approval remains limited to a few devices with narrow indications, underscoring the gap between promising research and routine clinical use.