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Breathalysers for diagnosing the cause of a sore throat or serious diseases
such as asthma and diabetes will revolutionise medicine, predict scientists from
Imperial College, London. The devices will look out for chemicals in the breath
of patients that are associated with certain infections or illnesses.
Respiratory specialist Peter Openshaw of Imperial says he hopes the team’s
prototype device, which tells doctors the exact cause of sore throats—thus
avoiding the unnecessary use of antibiotics—will be ready for clinical
tests within two years. The researchers think there will be a
multibillion-dollar market for such devices.