MOSCOW, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russian scientists have invented a biohybrid device that uses rats to detect early-stage lung cancer and tuberculosis, local media reported Tuesday.
"This biohybrid system uses rats as a detector. Electrodes are placed in a rat to create a mathematical device that interprets its biorhythms as its receptors react to tumor markers in the exhaled air," Sputnik news agency quoted Alexander Panfilov, who leads medical research at the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects, as saying.
The diagnosis system can detect first and second-stage cancer by analyzing a patient's exhaled air in a very short time. The chance to detect lung cancer in the second and third stage is over 90 percent, according to Panfilov.
Now the biohybrid diagnosis can be done in five minutes. Scientists have set a goal to reduce the time to one minute, added Panfilov.
Similar systems are being created in the world, and Russian scientists have probably created the first one that actually works, he said.
