PlasmoSniff: MIT breath test detects pneumonia in minutes

PlasmoSniff, a portable chip-scale sensor developed at MIT, aims to diagnose pneumonia and other lung conditions by measuring synthetic biomarkers in breath. The system uses inhaled nanoparticles that release biomarkers only when specific enzymes tied to infection cut them loose, and the team says those markers can appear within about 10 minutes.

How does PlasmoSniff work?

PlasmoSniff traps and detects synthetic biomarkers that are released from nanoparticles inhaled by the patient, the particles detach the biomarkers only in the presence of enzymes produced during infection. In practice, a person inhales nanoparticles engineered to bind to disease-associated molecules, those particles remain intact in healthy people but, when enzymes from an infection cleave the particles, the freed biomarkers are exhaled and can be measured.

The device is built as a chip-scale sensor that captures the exhaled biomarkers. Professor Sangeeta Bhatia, SM ’93, PhD ’97, and her lab have developed this nanoparticle sensor approach for years. The current detection method relies on an enhanced form of Raman spectroscopy, an optical technique in which molecules are illuminated with light to reveal their signatures.

What did the new study show?

The new work demonstrated detection of exhaled pneumonia biomarkers at extremely low concentrations by combining the nanoparticle approach with enhanced Raman spectroscopy. A 2020 paper from Bhatia’s lab had already shown the nanoparticles could detect pneumonia in the breath of mice, but those earlier measurements required laboratory-grade instruments not available in most clinics.

Loza Tadesse, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and her colleagues improved sensitivity using an enhanced Raman technique, and they plan to incorporate the sensor into a handheld instrument for clinical settings or home use. Aditya Garg, an MIT postdoc and lead author on the recent paper, summarized the envisioned workflow: "We envision that a patient would inhale nanoparticles and, within about 10 minutes, exhale a synthetic biomarker that reports on lung status."

Why it matters

PlasmoSniff promises to move a lab-bound diagnostic into point-of-care or at-home settings by replacing bulky lab instruments with a chip-scale sensor and optical readout. Faster, noninvasive detection in minutes could shorten the time between symptom onset and diagnosis, and reduce reliance on laboratory infrastructure that the 2020 mouse study required. The team also highlights broader applications, including detection of industrial chemicals or airborne pollutants, which would expand the device beyond infectious disease screening.

What to watch

Track whether the researchers successfully integrate the enhanced Raman detector into a handheld unit suitable for clinics or home use, and whether the group publishes human-sample data building on the 2020 mouse work. Also watch for demonstrations that use the same sensing approach to detect industrial chemicals or airborne pollutants, as noted by Loza Tadesse.

Specific source details: the approach dates to work from Bhatia’s lab published in 2020 showing detection in mice, and the team says exhaled synthetic biomarkers could be measured within about 10 minutes after inhalation of the nanoparticles.