SCIENTISTS at a North-East university have designed an electronic nose to sniff out disease in humans.

The scientists, based at the University of Teesside, in Middlesbrough, are now fine-tuning the device which they hope will diagnose illness by smelling the different chemicals produced in the body.

The machine was originally designed to detect contamination in food, but its potential in other fields has now been recognised.

It is also being used to detect drugs and explosives in place of sniffer dogs. But it is hoped it can be adapted to identify symptoms of ill health.

The nose is made up of a number of tiny crystals which will detect the odours associated with various ailments.

Each crystal vibrates at a certain frequency, which changes according to the chemicals with which it comes into contact.

Dr Zulfiquor Ali is one of the design team behind the research being carried out at the university's Chemical and Bio-Sensors Research Unit.

He said: "There is an increasing demand for painless and accurate methods of diagnosis that will produce a quick result.

"Every disease and illness produces its own specific chemical responses in the body which, in turn, produce their unique vapours.

"It is by harnessing these and programming the nose to recognise them that we can build up a picture of diseases simply through smell.

"We still have a long way to go, but this is a non-evasive method and has already proved very effective in identifying certain types of infection. We are effectively fingerprinting odours, and this could one day revolutionise the way in which disease is diagnosed."