Application of an Electronic Nose Based on Piezoelectric Sensors for Scanning Volatile Compounds of Gynecological Tests

Abstract

We proposed a method for the rapid assessment of the state of adverse processes in gynecological patients, using highly volatile compounds of an invasive biological test (cervical mucus), which makes it possible to assess the patient’s gynecological status in real time in a doctor’s office. A highly sensitive detector based on seven mass-sensitive piezoelectric sensors containing nanostructured electrode modifiers, having different selectivity to volatile biomolecules (alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, acids, amines) was used. Simple quantitative and qualitative parameters of a sensor array for a mixture of volatile compounds released by a bioassay are considered and substantiated. The boundaries of the quantitative parameters of the sensor array for ranking the samples into the groups “conditionally healthy,” “inflammation/infection,” and “remission” are considered. The ranges of normalized quantitative parameters of the array of the studied sensors, corresponding to the boundaries of unambiguous decision-making on the state of the bioassay and processes in the body, were identified. For the “conditionally healthy” group, the reliable estimate is in the range of up to 1%, for the “remission” group, it is 20–40%, and for the “inflammation/infection” group, it is more than 60%. A procedure for assessing the gynecological status of a person by volatile compounds of cervical mucus using an electronic nose was developed. The procedure was tested together with gynecologists in real conditions of appointment and medical examination of patients. The accuracy of ranking the samples into the groups “conditionally healthy,” “inflammation/infection,” and “remission” is 90%; the analysis time is 5–10 min. No internal calibration of the sensors is required; the reliable operation time of the array is at least 1 year; the performance of the procedure is 5 samples/h.