What are they? Why use them to detect disease?

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are molecules so small and light that they easily escape from the solid or liquid they are in. Most scents are caused by VOCs. “New car smell” for example, is caused by tiny, light molecules being released into the air from all the new materials. 

Cells in our bodies produce VOCs all the time. Acetone, limonene, acetic acid, to name a few. They travel through our blood and exit the body through feces, urine, sweat, breath, and other pungent bio-samples. They can also reveal the presence of disease.

As a disease begins to develop, certain metabolic responses occur in the body that create VOCs. These specific VOCs introduced to the body are a signature or fingerprint for that disease. Once a diseases’ signature is decoded, algorithms can be trained to look for that signature in a sample. 

Many believe early-detection is the cure for cancer because “early” is when treatment success rates are highest. VOCs’ creation at the onset of disease, before symptoms or tumors may even exist, makes them ideal for early detection.

The VOC has long been known as an underused biomarker because the technology to accurately detect and analyze them was lacking. VOC Health’s NanoBiosensor is changing that and being tested and designed into multiple prototype devices.