Examples of Applications of an Electronic Nose to the Analysis of Volatile Compounds Secreted Outside the Human Body

Electronic noses have been applied to several disciplines such as food analysis, environmental control and industrial processes; in this paper the use of electronic noses in medicine is introduced and discussed. ln this paper a review about the main features of human body odor is given. First experiments concerning with the measurement of the sensitivity of sensors towards a particular constituent of the skin odor and preliminary results of a survey of skin odor analysis in a population of individual are reported. Furthermore, the possibility of the application of the electronic nose approach to follow the different phases of the ovulation cycle in woman is also presented. Preliminary results show that the sensor responses follow the periodicity of the ovulation cycle and that also some periodic sub-structures can be identified. Findings encourage in pursuing this research direction which can give rise to a better comprehension of the role of smell and odor in humans and, in the next future, in novel diagnostic tools.