Electronic Nose to Detect Cancer at our Centre in UK first

A pioneering electronic nose (E-nose) designed to detect prostate cancer—modelled on the extraordinary scent-detection abilities of our dogs—is being trialled in the UK for the first time. 

Developed by US-based quantum physicist Dr Andreas Mershin, the device will analyse over 500 urine samples previously screened by dogs trained by Medical Detection Dogs.

 The aim is to compare the E-nose’s performance directly with that of the dogs.

Dr Mershin, founder of Realnose.ai, has spent nearly a decade inspired by Medical Detection Dogs as an MIT P.I. Research Scientist collaborating with MDD to replicate the dogs’ diagnostic accuracy using machine olfaction. Until now, their E-noses have only been tested on small sets of bio bank samples. This marks the first time they will be used on samples from consented patients provided by Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust from both cancer-positive individuals and healthy controls. 

The dogs’ performance in detecting aggressive prostate cancer was previously published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, showing a specificity of 74% and sensitivity of 71%. Remarkably, the dogs were also able to identify cancer in patients with other prostate conditions—an area where current PSA blood tests often fall short. 

“This is a major milestone,” said Mershin. “We’ve worked to emulate the dogs’ abilities and train machines in a similar way—rewarding them for correct identifications. It’s like giving our devices a new sense: a nose. Phones already have eyes and ears, but machine olfactors are the next frontier in health technology and AI sensing.

“This could transform the world of diagnosis, screening and early detection."

The E-nose’s development is the result of a collaboration between Dr Mershin, MDD, and a chemistry team at the University of Texas at El Paso, who used data from the dogs to help build the device. 

Claire Guest, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer at Medical Detection Dogs, added: 
“When I trained our first cancer detection dog over 15 years ago, the goal was always to inform scalable technology—not to have a dog in every hospital. Seeing that vision start to come to life with this E-nose is an incredibly proud moment.” 

The trial will take place at the MDD training centre in Buckinghamshire, with results expected to inform the next generation of non-invasive diagnostic tools.