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Imagine being diagnosed by a machine that can "smell" diseases on your breath.

Sound a bit "Star Trek"? Well this new technology pioneered by a UK company might be with us sooner than you think.

Owlstone Medical Ltd. wants to bring non-invasive "medical breathalysers" to a doctor's office near you.

The Cambridge company says the devices could "save 100,000 lives and £1.1 billion in health care costs by 2020."

This goal may be a step closer because the award-winning British company has just secured a £4.9 million investment that will allow the commercialisation of its medical technology.

The investment was led by private fund Medtekwiz, which specialises in funding the commercialisation of "disruptive medical technologies".

(Image: Owlstone Medical)

The money will be used by the company to fund ongoing clinical trials that are being conducted in collaboration with the NHS.

Owlstone Medical CEO Billy Boyle commented: “Securing this funding is further validation of our technology".

Regius Professor Christofer Toumazou, advisor to Medtekwiz, added: “With the investment, I look forward to seeing a step change in the way serious disease can be diagnosed and monitored, and particularly for colon and lung cancer, which are two of the biggest cancer killers worldwide.”

Previously, Owlstone Medical was awarded a £1 million NHS contract to trial its technology in the early detection of lung cancer.

The company has stated that it wants to reduce lung cancer mortality by allowing earlier diagnosis of the disease and the goal of the "LUCID" project is to "save 10,000 lives and save the NHS £245 million by 2020".

Owlstone Medical's futuristic technology is not limited to lung cancer diagnosis. The company is also focusing on non-invasive diagnostics for other cancers, infectious disease and inflammatory disease.

How can a machine 'smell' disease?

You've probably heard reports that dogs can sniff out people suffering from certain diseases.

(Image: Daily Record)

This is because different diseases have specific associated chemical "disease biomarkers". These characteristic volatile compounds can be smelt in a patient's breath or bodily fluids.

Owlstone Medical's "field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry" (or FAIMS) technology uses powerful electric fields to separate out different chemical compounds "sniffed" from patients' clinical samples.

This is achieved by passing the sample through a 5p-sized chip that has a series of parallel, closely spaced channels, between which the electric field exists.

(Image: Owlstone medical)

Having separated and detected the "volatile organic compounds", FAIMS provides unique "chemical fingerprints" for each patient sample, which are analysed using advanced computer algorithms to look for specific disease patterns.

The versatile technology isn't limited to breath analysis, but is also able to analyse the whole gamut of human productions, including urine, poo and spit.

How could it help doctors?

Owlstone Medical claims that the non-invasive technology will help doctors spot diseases earlier.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

Mr Boyle said: "The breathalyser we are developing provides clinicians with a highly sensitive, non-invasive diagnostic, which will enable early detection and improve patient outcomes."

It also wants to improve clinicians' ability to match the right treatment with the right patients, the company CEO added.

(Image: Owlstone medical)

"We are also working with pharma partners to develop non-invasive companion diagnostics to better match patients to treatment for emerging personalised therapies."

A British success story

Founded in 2004 by three PhD students, Owlstone Inc. was a spin-out from the Engineering Department at the University of Cambridge.

Owlstone Medical was spun out from Owlstone Inc in 2016 to develop and commercialise FAIMS in diagnostic applications.

News of this investment arrives amid the Brexit turmoil that is currently surrounding British business.

It remains to be seen just how badly the mess caused by the Leave vote will affect small and medium sized businesses in the UK's high tech sector.