Khaberni - There is new hope for those who have lost their sense of smell, as scientists have successfully tested an advanced device that enables people to detect the presence of certain odors.
This innovative system helps to restore the sense of smell by translating odors into sensations (such as touch) inside the nose.
Loss of the sense of smell (or its deficiency) is a major issue affecting about 20% of the world's population.
The causes of this problem vary, including infections, medications, or injuries, and the loss of this sense may be permanent or temporary.
Lack of compensatory devices
Unlike hearing loss or vision impairment, where cochlear implants or prosthetic limbs are available, there is no implant or devices available to restore the sense of smell.
According to "Medical Xpress," this new research, prepared by a team from the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center in France and the University of Dresden in Germany, represents a vital step toward developing a practical solution for more than a billion people.
How does it work?
The team developing the device described its operation in a research paper published in the journal "Science Advances" as a system that captures odors using an artificial nose (electronic nose) and translates that chemical information into a specific digital code.
This code is then passed through a nasal electrical stimulator (a small magnetic clip) placed on the nasal septum, the wall separating the nostrils, to stimulate the trigeminal nerve.
Once stimulated by an electrical pulse, individuals perceive the code as a distinct sensation. They do not actually smell but rather learn to associate this unique feeling with a specific odor, enabling them to distinguish between different odors.
Sensory substitution
This technique concept is called "sensory substitution," where one functional sense conveys information from an impaired sense.
The nasal cavity contains two sensory systems: the olfactory system for smell, and the trigeminal nerve system for temperature, touch, and irritation.
In this research, the new device employs the trigeminal nerve to convey information that the olfactory nerve is no longer able to transmit.
The researchers said: "This substitutional approach does not allow patients to smell real odors but represents a genuine initial substitutional solution that we can imagine offering to patients in the future."
Success of the experiment
The team tested their innovation on 65 people (13 of whom have a normal sense of smell and 52 suffering from loss of smell) across 4 experiments.
All were able to detect odor molecules, and most could distinguish between two different odors.
The device also succeeded with patients who have completely lost their sense of smell, and also with healthy individuals, meaning that the trigeminal pathway is a reliable method for transmitting encoded signals to everyone.
Work is still in its early stages. Among the next steps for researchers is increasing the number of odors and stimulation patterns tested, and converting the laboratory prototype into a miniaturized wearable device for daily use.
