April 27 : A team of UK researchers claim to have developed a mucus substitute that improves the performance of odour sensing electronic noses.

The electronic smell sensors work on the same principal as a human nose, but possess only ten sensors compared to the 100 million specialised receptors present in human noses used to detect smells.

Receptors in the human nose are covered with a thin layer of mucus, which makes them very sensitive to different scents. Electronic noses do not possess any such mucus.

Now, Julian Gardner and colleagues at Warwick University, along with researchers at Leicester University, both UK, have created an artificial mucus layer that mimics this process.

The mucus membrane improves the performance of odour-sensing “electronic noses”, helping it to pick up more complex smells.

Using chromatography, the mucus layer dissolves scents and separates their components chemically. Different odour molecules then reach receptors at slightly varied times, enabling the receptors to distinguish between different compounds.

Researchers believe the development would offer faster analysis and detection time.

“Exploiting this approach could lead to significant improvement in the capability of a new generation of e-noses. Such a system would offer faster analysis times … and be able to identify simple and complex odours better than current e-nose instruments,” New Scientist quoted the study in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, as saying.

Anthony Turner at Cranfield University, UK, who is working on using e-noses to detect tuberculosis for the World Health Organisation, said: “This team has pioneered this field for years. It sounds like an exciting new approach”. (ANI)