Electronic-nose technology using sputum samples in diagnosis of patients with tuberculosis.
We investigated the potential of two different electronic noses (EN; code named "Rob" and "Walter") to differentiate between sputum headspace samples from tuberculosis (TB) patients and non-TB patients. Only samples from Ziehl-Neelsen stain (ZN)- and Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture-positive (TBPOS) sputum samples and ZN- and culture-negative (TBNEG) samples were used for headspace analysis; with EN Rob, we used 284 samples from TB suspects (56 TBPOS and 228 TBNEG samples), and with EN Walter, we used 323 samples from TB suspects (80 TBPOS and 243 TBNEG samples). The best results were obtained using advanced data extraction and linear discriminant function analysis, resulting in a sensitivity of 68%, a specificity of 69%, and an accuracy of 69% for EN Rob; for EN Walter, the results were 75%, 67%, and 69%, respectively. Further research is still required to improve the sensitivity and specificity by choosing more selective sensors and type of sampling technique.
Kolk
Arend
A
KIT Biomedical Research, Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen/Royal Tropical Institute, Meibergdreef 39, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, Netherlands. arend.kolk@hetnet.nl
Hoelscher
Michael
M
Maboko
Leonard
L
Jung
Jutta
J
Kuijper
Sjoukje
S
Cauchi
Michael
M
Bessant
Conrad
C
van Beers
Stella
S
Dutta
Ritaban
R
Gibson
Tim
T
Reither
Klaus
K
D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical / Q000379:methods*; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013183:Sputum / Q000737:chemistry*; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis*