Dogs can be trained to recognize the smell of Covid-19 and many other diseases. However, this takes a lot of time. It might be possible in the very near future to build robotic noses (machine olfaction), that work as well as a dog’s. This would mean that once one neural net has been trained to recognize a new pathogen, the software could easily be distributed around the globe. Sensors in public places could then pick up in real time whether someone infectious was close by. This would reduce the need for non-pharmeceutical interventions and PPE or even stop the spread of a disease completely. It would also help with the diagnosis of many common diseases when diagnosis is expensive, invasive or takes a long time.
Thanks to advances in machine learning and sensor manufacturing, machine olfaction is coming up with its first limited successes. See here for a prostate cancer prototype and a general explainer.
Machine olfaction for disease detection
Biorisk and Recovery from Catastrophe
Dogs can be trained to recognize the smell of Covid-19 and many other diseases. However, this takes a lot of time. It might be possible in the very near future to build robotic noses (machine olfaction), that work as well as a dog’s. This would mean that once one neural net has been trained to recognize a new pathogen, the software could easily be distributed around the globe. Sensors in public places could then pick up in real time whether someone infectious was close by. This would reduce the need for non-pharmeceutical interventions and PPE or even stop the spread of a disease completely. It would also help with the diagnosis of many common diseases when diagnosis is expensive, invasive or takes a long time.
Thanks to advances in machine learning and sensor manufacturing, machine olfaction is coming up with its first limited successes. See here for a prostate cancer prototype and a general explainer.