Technion expert honored for SniffPhone system

In previous years, this list included Google, Bitcoin, Addex and Coursera.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Youth and Hi-tech in Israel (photo credit: ING IMAGE/ASAP)
Youth and Hi-tech in Israel
(photo credit: ING IMAGE/ASAP)
Prof. Hossam Haick, a well-known scientist from the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, and his SniffPhone rapid medical diagnostics project have been selected for the 2015 Nominet Trust 100 list.
In previous years, this list – which covers the most important digital developments from a social perspective – included Google, Bitcoin, Addex and Coursera.
The Nominet Trust 100 list is composed of the 100 digital developments that had the greatest effect on society in 2015 and honors individuals and organizations for digital technologies that contribute to society.
The SniffPhone system is being developed by a team led by Haick – a member of the Technion’s Faculty of Chemical Engineering and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute.
This is a smartphone-linked technology aimed at rapid diagnosis of cancer and other diseases based on the subject’s exhaled breath. This system, which Haick says will be simple to operate and will not prevent the user from functioning normally, will be equipped with minute sensor arrays to “read” the exhaled breath.
The data will be sent by the mobile phone to a processing system that will interpret them and determine whether the subject has the disease. If the answer is positive, it will provide the attending physician with further details using an advanced digital system.
Haick, 40, a Christian Arab Israeli, is a full professor at the Technion and an expert in the field of nanotechnology and noninvasive disease diagnosis.
He has received numerous prestigious awards and grants, including the Marie Curie Excellence Award, the European Research Council grant and grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Haick also heads the three European consortia (LCAOS , Volgacore and SniffPhone), each composed of around 10 universities and companies.