VOC Health’s NanoBiosensor uses carbon nanotubes, just a molecule in width, to detect and analyze volatile organic compounds (VOCs). 

The initial success of VOC Health and its partners was with the detection of stage I ovarian cancer, from a standard blood sample, with 95% sensitivity and 99% specificity in 58 lab-bench tests. These tests were performed by the NanoBiosensor’s creator, Dr. A.T. Charlie Johnson at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). At that time, it was believed that the same approach – determining a VOC signature associated with a disease and then detecting them in a sample – could be applied to other cancers and diseases. Since then, our process to detect a disease evolved to require less time, less cost and fewer samples. Our evolved process has since proven successful with the accurate detection of COVID-19 in sweat and urine samples; ovarian and prostate cancer in blood plasma and urine samples; and pancreatic cancer in blood plasma samples.

In 2021, VOC Health exclusively licensed the original IP portfolio (14 patents) developed primarily by Dr. A.T. Charlie Johnson. The team has since advanced the sensor from 100 to 256 channels – dramatically improving the signal. VOC Health continues to explore new fabrication methods and materials to improve the sensor’s sensitivity and longevity.The current, packaged sensor is designed to be easily inserted in various devices to allow VOC detection and analysis in a multitude of applications and environments.