[00:00.100]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.060]this is the Health Report.
[00:04.900]Bladder cancer is the ninth most common cancer in the world,
[00:10.440]an estimated 12 million new cases are found every year.
[00:15.920]Now, researchers say they have developed a "scent device"
[00:20.750]that can identify the disease.
[00:24.480]The device is called the OdoReader,
[00:27.270]it has a sensor that finds chemicals
[00:30.560]in the gases released by urine.
[00:34.200]The device takes about 30 minutes
[00:37.530]to analyze the odors in a urine sample,
[00:40.870]to find if a person has bladder cancer.
[00:44.810]The Institute of Biosensor Technology at the University of
[00:50.390]the West of England in Bristol developed the device.
[00:55.170]Chris Probert at the University of Liverpool
[00:59.150]was part of a team that tested it.
[01:02.640]Mr Probert says the results are highly accurate.
[01:07.680]"This data set is very strong: 96-100 percent accuracy.
[01:12.460]We think we are right for the next study
[01:15.690]to show that it is reproducible and then, hopefully,
[01:19.220]we can talk to industry about making a box
[01:21.970]that people can buy for use in surgeries and hospitals."
[01:25.400]Researchers tested the OdoReader on 98 urine samples.
[01:30.990]24 of them were from patients known to have bladder cancer,
[01:36.510]74 were from people who had bladder infections,
[01:42.580]but not bladder cancer.
[01:45.150]The device identified everyone of the patients who had bladder cancer.
[01:51.880]Mr Probert says researchers in other labs
[01:56.710]are developing sniffing devices to diagnose stomach cancer,
[02:02.540]another common disease worldwide.
[02:06.770]Researchers say the OdoReader is like a dog's nose.
[02:11.960]An earlier study showed that dogs could be trained
[02:15.890]to detect bladder cancer based on the odor of urine.
[02:21.320]However, the dog's noses was not nearly as reliable as the new device.
[02:28.290]Mr Probert says the scent device could someday be used
[02:33.420]to monitor the health of workers in industries
[02:37.010]like rubber and insulation manufacturing.
[02:40.450]"There's quite a burden of cancer in those employees.
[02:43.400]And so, occupational health in those places of work
[02:47.780]could help their employees by taking a urine sample,
[02:51.710]much as they are doing now
[02:53.450]but with much more accuracy with our machine."
[02:56.300]Bladder cancer is now found by looking for the blood in the urine.
[03:00.730]Mr Probert says researchers have not yet identified
[03:05.560]which gases in urine make the scent unique to bladder cancer.
[03:12.080]But he says they are working on that.
[03:15.670]They are also working on other odor reading devices
[03:19.910]to diagnose other cancers, including those of the uterus and colon.
[03:26.380]The journal PLoS ONE, from the Public Library of Science
[03:31.810]published an article by Chris Probert and his colleagues on the OdoReader.
[03:38.390]And that's the Health Report from VOA Learning English.