Abstract
The volatilome is the entire set of volatile organic compounds (VOC) produced by an organism. The accumulation of VOC inside and outside of the body reflects the unique metabolic state of an organism. Scientists are developing technologies to non-invasively detect VOC for the purposes of medical diagnosis, therapeutic monitoring, disease outbreak containment, and disease prevention. Detection dogs are proven to be a valuable real-time mobile detection technology for the detection of VOC related to explosives, narcotics, humans, and many other targets of interests. Little is known about what dogs are detecting when searching for biological targets. It is important to understand where biological VOC originates and how dogs might be able to detect biological targets. This review paper discusses the recent scientific literature involving VOC analysis and postulates potential biological targets for canine detection. Dogs have shown their ability to detect pathogen and disease-specific VOC. Future research will determine if dogs can be employed operationally in hospitals, on borders, in underserved areas, on farms, and in other operational environments to give real-time feedback on the presence of a biological target.
Highlights
All living things are susceptible to pathogens and diseases
Dogs have been used in operational environments for years as real-time chemical detectors of explosives, narcotics, accelerants, people, animals, and other targets of interest
Current volatile organic compounds (VOC) analysis requires sophisticated stationary analytical chemical instrumentation, such as liquid/gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. These instruments are valuable for the discovery of biological VOC and to identify specific VOC, but unlike dogs, instruments are typically confined to a laboratory, unable to detect VOC in real time, and do not have the capability to track the odor to its source
Summary
Scientists have been investigating technologies that aid in early detection, therapeutic monitoring, and prevention of transmission of pathogens and diseases. Recent developments in the field of volatilomics have resulted in novel, emerging technologies that identify pathogens or disease states using characteristic chemical vapor emission patterns. Dogs are a mobile real-time detection technology that identify targeted chemical vapor profiles. Dogs have been used in operational environments for years as real-time chemical detectors of explosives, narcotics, accelerants, people, animals, and other targets of interest. Dogs possess an extremely sensitive sense of smell, with a demonstrated lower limit of detection at concentrations of one part per trillion (ppt) [1], which is three orders of magnitude more sensitive than today’s available instruments, which can reliably identify substances at concentrations as low as parts per million (ppm) or billion (ppb). To illustrate the tremendous canine olfactory sensitivity, a dog could detect the equivalent of one drop of a liquid in 20 Olympic-size (2500 ft3) swimming pools
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
