A new technology can enable doctors to diagnose diseases like cancer and Parkinson's by simply using a person's breath. There are 17 diseases that the Na-Nose device can detect, and it can be used just like a breathalyzer.

The device has up to 86 percent accuracy when it comes to detecting diseases. There are three major classes of disease that it can determine namely: inflammation, cancer, and neurological disorders. The conditions are determined through volatile organic compounds emitted in the patient's breath, MedicalDaily reported.

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A group of researchers from the Israel Institute of Technology, led by Hossam Haick, built the Na-Nose device which can detect diseases by analyzing a person's breath. The device was made with specially-created gold particles, about the size of a billionths a meter, mixed with tubes of carbon with similar size.

The device has a sort of network that interacts differently when exposed to about 100 volatile compounds in a person's breath. To make it work, the researchers collected 2,800 breath samples from 1,400 individuals suffering from one or more of the 17 diseases.

Haick's team then used artificial intelligence to create a set of data which will analyze patterns in the compounds detected, thus storing enough information to respond when volatile compound matches a certain disease, Quartz reported.

This use of breath prints is a cheaper way of detecting diseases. It is also non-invasive and can be repeated several times without the dreaded side effects on patients. The good thing about the new technology is that it can be used to also determine multiple types of diseases on a single patient.

Researchers also believe that if the technology persists, it can be fitted in mobile phones to keep track of a person's breath.