A team of local scientists says it developed technology with which various illnesses, including diabetes, can be diagnosed early on based on analyses of exhaled breath.  
 
The team, led by Professor Kim Il-doo at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, said it developed a highly-sensitive, microscopic sensor that thoroughly analyzes infinitesimal quantity of gas related to a certain disease from a person’s exhaled breath.
 
Gas exhaled by a person is said to include various volatile organic compounds, some of which are said to be deeply related to certain diseases.
 
The team said that existing sensors have limits when it comes to extracting certain minute amounts of gas out of the hundreds of types of gas exhaled from a person.
 
The team is hoping to improve the breath analyzer to detect lung cancer. It also aims to use the sensor for analyzing air pollution, and in related industries. 
 
The latest research was printed on the February 17th edition of the journal, "Small," which publishes research in science and technology on the micro- and nano scale.