The research team had previously conducted a study to demonstrate that ovarian cancers emit a specific scent, and they used dogs to distinguish between ovarian cancer tissue and healthy tissue.
The study also revealed that the blood of ovarian cancer patients had the same specific scent.
Following the study, researchers are working on detecting this scent using an existing electronic nose.
Recently, researchers have tested a new more sensitive electronic scent detector, which was developed by adding several new components to increase the sensitivity of the device.
Study researcher Gyorgy Horvath said the team’s goal is to be able to screen blood samples from apparently healthy women and so detect ovarian cancer at an early stage when it can still be cured.