You may have yellow fever<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n[divider][\/divider]<\/p>\n
In previous methods of detection \u2014 like the one employed at Picarro \u2014 laser wavelengths were tuned to find a specific molecule. So it would help only if you knew you were looking for a specific type of disease. Vodopyanov uses the analogy of a checkout line at the grocery store: Every molecule has a bar code. The existing technology was using a scanner set to read just one of them. Vodopyanov spent the years after the Nobel announcement experimenting with how to develop a scanner that could read all of the bar codes at once.<\/p>\n
By 2009, he had a breakthrough. After making a quick study of the biology involved \u2014 \u201cthat\u2019s the most fun, when you learn something new\u201d \u2014 he gave his first presentation at a breath analysis conference in 2010 to a warm reception. When he was hired by UCF in 2013, it was to continue his biomedical research.<\/p>\n
These ideas have moved beyond theory. He and his colleagues are working on a prototype for a point-of-care device: The patient exhales in a tube, the doctor pushes a button to start the laser identification, and the measurements are fed into a computer for instant analysis.<\/p>\n
\u201c[It takes] maybe a millisecond,\u201d Vodopyanov says. (The tech seems far-fetched in context, but it\u2019s actually pretty commonplace, he says. Your smartphone or social network already likely has some form of facial recognition, analyzing millions of pixels in less than a second. \u201cThis does the same thing, just in two dimensions.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Then, a bit of code will translate those readings into coherent medical notes \u2014 warnings, low counts, telltale signs. It\u2019s the high-tech equivalent of the dog pawing its diabetic owner. \u201cBut the dogs, they\u2019re binary. It\u2019s just a \u2018yes, something is wrong\u2019 or \u2018no, it isn\u2019t,\u2019 \u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to outperform dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a modest appraisal that he delivers with a laugh, but he readily offers the truth about the work: \u201cWe\u2019re the only lab in the world that can do what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while biomedical research has been an important first application, the device has the potential for broader impact. \u201cThis will prove to be a very important discovery,\u201d says Sergey Mirov, a physics professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and longtime Vodopyanov collaborator. Being able to rapidly detect chemical composition shows promise for everything from environmental monitoring to detecting oil pipe leaks. As a prototype, Mirov says, this can go anywhere \u2014 dentist offices, airplanes, the space station. \u201cIt can be really, really global.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The prototype refinement is ongoing. Vodopyanov makes the comparison between his lab\u2019s current work and that of a solar cell engineer. \u201c[Engineers] are focused on improving efficiency \u2014 on making a better solar cell,\u201d he says. \u201cSame with us.\u201d He wants the prototype to be more sensitive, more efficient, maybe even shrunk to the size of an iPhone. There\u2019s much to be done.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard not to daydream about the potential impact though. Think of the cost savings to patients spared expensive but irrelevant tests. And think of how useful, Vodopyanov says, this could be in developing countries, where hospitals and diagnostic tools are inaccessible to millions. \u201cWe are just on the cutting edge,\u201d he says. \u201cBut if we\u2019re successful, it is clear that this would be very widely used.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked how long it will be until the prototype is unveiled, Vodopyanov estimates a year or so. \u201cIt is like approaching the Wright brothers after their first flight and asking, \u2018OK, how soon until we can load that with 300 people and fly it around the world?\u2019 We just can\u2019t be sure. But we\u2019re ahead of the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Triggering the Past<\/h2>\n Scent can serve not only as an indicator of danger but also as a reminder of it.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
For veterans suffering from post- traumatic stress disorder, everyday sensory experiences can trigger traumatic memories. Fireworks may be a reminder of gunshots. The rumble of a car might recall a fateful trip interrupted by an IED. Even the smell of gas might bring back the harrowing scene after an attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cSmells make for more emotional and stronger memories,\u201d says Deborah Beidel, Pegasus Professor of psychology and medical education. It\u2019s a biological byproduct: \u201c[Memories] head right from your olfactory bulb to your hippocampus and amygdala,\u201d Beidel says. In other words, it\u2019s a straight run from your smell center to your emotional center.<\/p>\n
Beidel has incorporated scents into her clinical treatment at UCF RESTORES, which is focused on exposure therapy for patients with PTSD. The setup includes virtual reality headsets to provide audio and visual in addition to smells like cordite and diesel fuel, all working together to create an immersive experience for patients so they can accurately relive their trauma. The more patients relive these experiences in a safe environment, Beidel says, the weaker the link between the sound, smell or scene and the emotional response. She compares it to reversing the training of Pavlov\u2019s dog \u2014 making it so the food bell that instantly inspired salivation is just a noise. \u201cWe are making new neuronal connections in your brain,\u201d Beidel says.<\/p>\n
[photo id=”11213″ title=”dr-b” alt=”dr beidel using exposure therapy to treat veterans and other patients with\u00a0PTSD” position=”center”][\/photo]<\/p>\n
Deborah Beidel is the founding director of UCF RESTORES, which uses exposure therapy to help treat veterans and other patients with\u00a0PTSD.
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But those lessons don\u2019t come easy. In the first few exposure sessions \u2014 which last between 90 minutes and two hours \u2014 Beidel notes that most patients experience a high level of distress. But after 10 to 14 sessions, patients report thinking about the event less. They\u2019ll never forget, but their response starts to lessen \u2014 there\u2019s less heart racing, less sweating, no more lump in the throat. \u201cThe clearest analogy might be when someone close to you dies,\u201d says Beidel. \u201cWe may cry, we may feel very sad. But after a period of time, it doesn\u2019t have that same intense effect. Exposure therapy does the same thing for people who have PTSD.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beidel has seen dramatic results: At the end of three weeks, 67 percent of patients she has treated with exposure therapy no longer meet the criteria for PTSD. But funding from the Department of Defense \u2014 which supported her work with a grant \u2014 runs out in May 2017. For Beidel, it means pivoting from being a research trial to a clinical program \u2014 and that means fundraising. There is a target goal of $10 million to fund the work, which Beidel notes provides services to PTSD sufferers free of charge. \u201cPatients get housing for three weeks,\u201d she says. \u201cWe treat them and provide them with a safe space to live.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still though, keeping the clinic open might require expanding services to groups beyond veterans. First responders at June\u2019s Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando \u2014 where a gunman killed 49 and wounded 53 more \u2014 have also requested services. With so many phone calls going unanswered in victims\u2019 pockets in the aftermath, emergency workers report that the sound of a cellphone ring has been traumatic for them. Now, Beidel says, they\u2019ll have to figure out what scents may be haunting them too. \n[\/callout]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10947,"template":"","categories":[977],"tags":[204,1668,30],"class_list":["post-10734","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","tag-college-of-optics-and-photonics","tag-deborah-beidel","tag-research","issues-1051","issues-spring-2017"],"yoast_head":"\n
UCF Professor Uses Scent to Help Diagnose Disease<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n