Development of integrated multi-channel artificial nose for detection of cancer

This ambitious interdisciplinary applied proposal builds on a line of results from our previous works, with the core idea, whether can we create and apply a highly sensitive differential capacitance sensor system for gas. We are at the point where we have a developed own electronic nose sensor system with impressive sensitivity– of 3parts per trillion - ppt – three (!) orders of magnitude better than current state of the art which today works typically in units of ppb. Here, this applied interdisciplinary microelectronics-physics-medicine proposal will redesign and apply an integrated multi-channel artificial nose system for detection of cancer using detection of volatile organic compounds in exhaled gas. We will advance our electronic nose sensor system to be able to “smell cancer”, specifically cancer of head and neck, which will require development of the cancer-specific chemical functionalisation of the sensors within the electronic nose system, system calibration and optimisation. We will apply artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for reading and discrimination of inherently complex non-specific multi-channel sensor data, to reach the needed high accuracy of detection. The major medical scientific novelty of this project will be knowledge on the role, types and variability of volatile organic compounds in exhaled gas, as today highly unknown signatures of the general homeostasis of a living individual, with the exhaled gas collected in the principal Slovenian oncology institution. The main deliverables of the project will include development and production of two electronic nose sensor demonstrators, protocols and methods for collection and temporary storage of exhaled gas, artificial intelligence identification –supervised and non-supervised- of cancer data in a test (5-10 samples) and a pilot group study (cca 200 samples). The project will be implemented by 4 academic and 1 industrial partner which are among the world strong names in their respective fields of expertise and innovators in the general interdisciplinary field of this proposal, as underlain with highest scientific standards (publications include Science Adv 2021, 2xPRL 2020, Cancer Treat Rev. 2019, 2x PRX 2019, Nature Comm 2019, Sensors 2017, Nature Phys 2017) and total of 9 international patents (EU, US, international) from the project coPIs. The project will create a novel sensing technology for the detection of cancer of major importance for general public health, and as of clear interest as a high potential business opportunity for the involved Slovenian high-tech company RLS. Moreover, the developed methodology and our electronic nose sensor system shows no principal limitations for detection of other general gas vapour traces or signals, possibly enabling medical and biomedical applications widely beyond the focus and scope of this project. Finally, this project will contribute to the cutting edge of today's sensor science by creating novel technology and knowledge for detection –i.e. electronical smelling- of patterns and compositions of diverse airy molecular fingerprints and gases, working at the intersection of microelectronics, physics, data science, and medicine, as required by this interdisciplinary challenge.