ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Julian Burschka - Technologist
Driven by his curiosity, Julian Burschka is combining multiple technical disciplines with strong business acumen to drive innovation and enable new technological advancements.

Why you should listen

Julian Burschka has spent many years developing materials for efficient solar energy conversion. Notably he pioneered an elegant method to fabricate so-called perovskite solar cells -- seminal research that later was published in Nature and cited several thousand times since.

Born a scientist at heart, Burschka is constantly striving to expand his horizon and is thrilled by new technological discoveries that might fundamentally change our daily lives. More recently, his interest was sparked by ultra-sensitive gas sensors and the detection of volatile organic compounds for various applications.

In his current role as a senior project manager at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Burschka is leading a multinational R&D team that develops smart material solutions to enable next-generation displays. He holds a Master of Business Administration and a PhD in chemistry, both of which he obtained following multilingual studies in Germany, France and Switzerland.

More profile about the speaker
Julian Burschka | Speaker | TED.com
TED@Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Julian Burschka: What your breath could reveal about your health

Julian Burschka: Que pode dicir o teu alento da túa saúde

Filmed:
2,091,356 views

Non hai mellor forma de deter unha enfermidade que collela e tratala a tempo, antes de que aparezan os síntomas. Esa é a idea principal de probas médicas como a radiografía, as resonancias magnéticas e as análises de sangue. Pero hai un medio con potencial subestimado para as análises médicas: o teu alento. O tecnólogo Julian Burschka comparte os últimos avances na ciencia da análise do alento --o rastrexo dos compostos orgánicos volátiles no teu alento exhalado-- e como podería utilizarse como una ferramenta poderosa á hora de detectar, predicir e, finalmente, previr unha enfermidade.
- Technologist
Driven by his curiosity, Julian Burschka is combining multiple technical disciplines with strong business acumen to drive innovation and enable new technological advancements. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I have a tendency to assume the worst,
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Teño tendencia a asumir o peor,
00:15
and once in a while,
this habit plays tricks on me.
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e de cando en vez,
este costume xógame malas pasadas.
00:18
For example, if I feel
unexpected pain in my body
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Por exemplo, se sinto unha dor
inesperada no corpo
00:21
that I have not experienced before
and that I cannot attribute,
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que nunca antes sentira
e que non sei a que atribuír,
00:25
then all of a sudden, my mind
might turn a tense back into heart disease
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de súpeto a miña mente pode
pensar que é unha cardiopatía
00:30
or calf muscle pain
into deep vein thrombosis.
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ou que unha dor no papo da perna
é unha trombose venosa.
00:33
But so far, I haven't been diagnosed
with any deadly or incurable disease.
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Pero ata agora, non me diagnosticaron
ningunha doenza fatal ou incurable.
00:37
Sometimes things just hurt
for no clear reason.
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Ás veces, temos dores sen razón aparente.
00:41
But not everyone is as lucky as me.
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Pero non todo o mundo ten
tanta sorte coma min.
00:43
Every year, more than
50 million people die worldwide.
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Cada ano, máis de 50 millóns de persoas
morren no mundo.
00:48
Especially in high-income
economies like ours,
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Especialmente en economías
con altos ingresos como a nosa,
00:51
a large fraction of deaths is caused
by slowly progressing diseases:
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un gran número das mortes están causadas
por enfermidades de evolución lenta:
00:56
heart disease, chronic lung disease,
cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes,
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cardiopatía, enfermidade pulmonar crónica,
cancro, alzhéimer, diabetes,
01:00
just to name a few.
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por nomear algunhas.
01:03
Now, humanity has made tremendous progress
in diagnosing and treating many of these.
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A humanidade fixo progresos enormes
diagnosticando e tratando moitas delas.
01:08
But we are at a stage
where further advancement in health
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Mais estamos nun momento
no que non se pode avanzar máis en saúde
01:12
cannot be achieved only
by developing new treatments.
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soamente desenvolvendo tratamentos novos.
01:15
And this becomes evident
when we look at one aspect
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E isto é evidente cando vemos un aspecto
01:17
that many of these
diseases have in common:
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que moitas destas enfermidades
teñen en común:
01:21
the probability for successful treatment
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a probabilidade dun tratamento exitoso
01:24
strongly depends on
when treatment is started.
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depende fortemente de cando se empeza.
01:27
But a disease is typically only detected
once symptoms occur.
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Pero unha enfermidade normalmente só
se detecta cando hai síntomas.
01:31
The problem here is that, in fact,
many diseases can remain asymptomatic,
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O problema é que hai enfermidades
que, de feito, poden ser asintomáticas,
01:36
hence undetected,
for a long period of time.
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e por tanto imperceptibles,
durante moito tempo.
01:39
Because of this, there is
a persisting need for new ways
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Por isto, hai unha persistente necesidade
de novos métodos
01:43
of detecting disease at early stage,
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de detección nos primeiros estadios,
01:45
way before any symptoms occur.
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antes de que empecen os síntomas.
01:49
In health care, this is called screening.
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Na asistencia sanitaria
chámaselle rastrexo,
01:51
And as defined by
the World Health Organization,
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que, segundo a definición
da Organización Mundial da Saúde,
01:54
screening is "the presumptive
identification of unrecognized disease
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é "a presunta identificación
dunha enfermidade non recoñecida
02:00
in an apparently healthy person,
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nunha persoa aparentemente sa,
02:02
by means of tests ... that can be applied
rapidly and easily ..."
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mediante probas... que se poden facer
rápida e sinxelamente..."
02:07
That's a long definition,
so let me repeat it:
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É unha definición longa,
así que a vou repetir:
02:10
identification of unrecognized disease
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Identificación dunha enfermidade
non recoñecida
02:13
in an apparently healthy person
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nunha persoa aparentemente sa
02:16
by means of tests that can be applied
both rapidly and easily.
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mediante probas que se poden facer
rápida e sinxelamente.
02:20
And I want to put special emphasis
on the words "rapidly" and "easily"
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E quero pór especial énfase
nas palabras "rápida e sinxelamente"
porque moitos dos métodos que existen
02:23
because many of the existing
screening methods
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02:25
are exactly the opposite.
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son exactamente o contrario.
02:28
And those of you
who have undergone colonoscopy
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E aqueles de vós que pasarades
por unha colonoscopia
02:30
as part of a screening program
for colorectal cancer
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como parte dun rastrexo
de cancro colorrectal
02:34
will know what I mean.
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saberedes o que quero dicir.
02:37
Obviously, there's a variety
of medical tools available
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Obviamente, hai unha gran variedade
de ferramentas dispoñibles
02:40
to perform screening tests.
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para levar a cabo as probas.
02:42
This ranges from imaging techniques
such as radiography
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Isto vai dende técnicas de escaneamento
como a radiografía
02:46
or magnetic resonance imaging
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ou a resonancia magnética
02:48
to the analysis of blood or tissue.
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ata análises de sangue ou tecidos.
02:50
We have all had such tests.
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Todos fixemos esas probas.
02:53
But there's one medium
that for long has been overlooked:
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Pero hai un medio que pasamos por alto
durante moito tempo:
02:57
a medium that is easily accessible,
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un medio de fácil acceso,
03:00
basically nondepletable,
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basicamente inesgotable,
03:02
and it holds tremendous promise
for medical analysis.
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e que alberga grandes expectativas
nas análises médicas.
03:06
And that is our breath.
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e é o noso alento.
03:10
Human breath is essentially
composed of five components:
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O alento humano está constituído
esencialmente por cinco compoñentes:
03:14
nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide,
water and argon.
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nitróxeno, oxíxeno,
dióxido de carbono, auga e argon.
03:21
But besides these five, there are
hundreds of other components
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Pero ademais destes cinco, hai centos
doutros compoñentes
03:24
that are present in very low quantity.
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presentes en moi pequenas cantidades.
03:27
These are called volatile
organic compounds,
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Chámanse compostos orgánicos volátiles,
03:29
and we release hundreds,
even thousands of them
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e soltamos centos, incluso miles,
03:32
every time we exhale.
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cada vez que exhalamos.
03:35
The analysis of these volatile
organic compounds in our breath
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A análise destes compostos
orgánicos volátiles no noso alento
03:38
is called breath analysis.
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chámase análise do alento.
03:41
In fact, I believe that many of you
have already experienced breath analysis.
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De feito, creo que moitos de vós
xa experimentastes a análise do alento.
03:45
Imagine: you're driving home
late at night,
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Imaxinade: estades indo
para casa de madrugada,
03:48
when suddenly, there's
a friendly police officer
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cando de súpeto,
aparece un amable policía
03:51
who asks you kindly but firmly
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que vos pide cordialmente
pero con firmeza
03:54
to pull over and blow
into a device like this one.
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que estacionedes na beiravía
e sopredes por un aparato coma este.
03:59
This is an alcohol breath tester
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Isto é un alcoholímetro
04:02
that is used to measure
the ethanol concentration in your breath
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que se usa para medir
a concentración de etanol no alento
04:06
and determine whether driving
in your condition is a clever idea.
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e determinar se conducir
nesas condicións é unha boa idea.
04:10
Now, I'd say my driving was pretty good,
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Eu digo que conduciría bastante ben,
04:12
but let me check.
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pero deixádeme comprobar.
04:14
(Beep)
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(bip)
04:20
0.0, so nothing
to worry about, all fine.
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0,0, así que nada do que preocuparse,
todo ben.
04:23
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
04:26
Now imagine a device like this one,
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Agora imaxinade un aparato coma este,
04:28
that does not only measure
alcohol levels in your breath,
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que non só mide os niveis de alcohol
no voso alento,
04:31
but that detects diseases
like the ones I've shown you
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senón que detecta enfermidades
como as que citei antes
04:35
and potentially many more.
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e potencialmente outras máis.
04:38
The concept of correlating
the smell of a person's breath
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O concepto de correlacionar
o cheiro do alento dunha persoa
04:42
with certain medical conditions,
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con certos problemas médicos,
04:44
in fact, dates back to Ancient Greece.
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de feito, remóntase á Grecia antiga.
04:47
But only recently, research efforts
on breath analysis have skyrocketed,
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Pero as investigacións sobre a análise
do alento só se dispararon recentemente,
04:52
and what once was a dream
is now becoming reality.
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e o que unha vez fora un soño
estase a converter nunha realidade.
04:57
And let me pull up this list again
that I showed you earlier.
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E permitídeme que volva sacar
esta lista que vos ensinei antes.
05:01
For the majority of diseases listed here,
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Para a maioría das enfermidades
aquí enumeradas,
05:04
there's substantial scientific evidence
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hai abundantes probas científicas
05:06
suggesting that the disease
could be detected by breath analysis.
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que suxiren que a enfermidade podería
detectarse cunha análise de alento.
05:11
But how does it work, exactly?
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Pero como funciona exactamente?
05:14
The essential part is a sensor device
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A parte esencial é un sensor
05:17
that detects the volatile
organic compounds in our breath.
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que detecta os compostos orgánicos
volátiles no noso alento.
05:21
Simply put: when exposed
to a breath sample,
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É dicir: cando está exposto
a unha mostra de alento,
05:24
the sensor outputs a complex signature
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o sensor produce unha marca complexa
05:27
that results from the mixture of volatile
organic compounds that we exhale.
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que resulta da mestura de compostos
orgánicos volátiles que exhalamos.
05:32
Now, this signature represents
a fingerprint of your metabolism,
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Esta marca representa
unha pegada do teu metabolismo,
05:36
your microbiome
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o teu microbioma
05:37
and the biochemical processes
that occur in your body.
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e os procesos bioquímicos
que ocorren no teu corpo.
05:41
If you have a disease,
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Se tes unha enfermidade,
05:43
your organism will change,
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o teu organismo cambiará,
05:45
and so will the composition
of your exhaled breath.
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e tamén o fará a composición
do teu aire exhalado.
05:49
And then the only thing that is left to do
is to correlate a certain signature
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E logo o último que queda por facer
é correlacionar tal marca
05:54
with the presence or absence
of certain medical conditions.
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coa presenza ou ausencia
de certos problemas médicos.
05:59
The technology promises
several undeniable benefits.
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A tecnoloxía promete
varios beneficios innegables.
06:03
Firstly, the sensor can be miniaturized
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En primeiro lugar, o sensor
pode facerse en miniatura
06:06
and integrated into small,
handheld devices
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e integrarse en aparatos
pequenos e portátiles
06:09
like this alcohol breath tester.
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como este alcoholímetro.
06:12
This would allow the test to be used
in many different settings
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Isto permitiría usar a proba
en moitas situacións diferentes
06:15
and even at home,
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e incluso na casa,
06:17
so that a visit at the doctor's office
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para que ir ao médico
06:19
is not needed each time
a test shall be performed.
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non sexa necesario cada vez
que haxa que facer unha proba.
06:22
Secondly, breath analysis is noninvasive
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En segundo lugar, a análise do alento
non é invasiva
06:26
and can be as simple as blowing
into an alcohol breath tester.
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e resulta tan sinxela
coma soprar nun alcoholímetro.
06:30
Such simplicity and ease of use
would reduce patient burden
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Esta simpleza e comodidade
reduciría a carga para o paciente
06:35
and provide an incentive
for broad adoption of the technology.
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e achegaría un incentivo
para adoptar a tecnoloxía de forma xeral.
06:39
And thirdly, the technology is so flexible
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E en terceiro lugar,
a tecnoloxía é tan flexible
06:44
that the same device could be used
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que o mesmo aparato pode empregarse
06:46
to detect a broad range
of medical conditions.
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para detectar un gran número
de problemas de saúde.
06:50
Breath analysis could be used to screen
for multiple diseases at the same time.
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A análise do alento poderíase usar
para detectar moitas enfermidades á vez.
06:56
Nowadays, each disease typically requires
a different medical tool
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Hoxe en día, cada enfermidade require
un instrumento médico diferente
06:59
to perform a screening test.
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para realizar un exame.
07:01
But this means you can only find
what you're looking for.
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Pero isto significa que só podes atopar
o que estás a buscar.
07:06
With all of these features,
breath analysis is predestined
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Con todas estas prestacións,
a análise do alento está destinada
07:10
to deliver what many traditional
screening tests are lacking.
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a ofrecer o que lles falta
a moitas probas tradicionais.
07:14
And most importantly,
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E o máis importante,
07:16
all of these features should
eventually provide us
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todas estas prestacións
deberían proporcionar co tempo
07:19
with a platform for medical analysis
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unha plataforma para análises médicas
07:22
that can operate at attractively
low cost per test.
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que poida operar
a un atractivo baixo custo por proba.
07:27
On the contrary, existing medical tools
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Pola contra,
os instrumentos médicos existentes
07:30
often lead to rather high cost per test.
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adoitan implicar grandes custos por proba.
07:33
Then, in order to keep costs down,
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Entón, con fin de manter os custos baixos,
07:36
the number of tests
needs to be restricted,
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o número de probas
ten que estar restrinxido,
07:39
and this means (a) that the tests
can only be performed
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e iso supón que
a) as probas só se poden realizar
07:42
on a narrow part of the population,
for example, the high-risk population;
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nunha parte reducida da poboación,
por exemplo, na de alto risco;
07:47
and (b) that the number of tests
per person needs to be kept at a minimum.
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e b) o número de probas por persoa
tense que manter reducido ao mínimo.
07:53
But wouldn't it actually be beneficial
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Mais non sería beneficioso
07:55
if the test was performed
on a larger group of people,
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realizar a proba en grupos
máis grandes de xente,
07:58
and more often and over a longer period
of time for each individual?
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con máis frecuencia e durante un período
maior para cada individuo?
08:03
Especially the latter would give access
to something very valuable
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Especialmente o último daría acceso
a algo moi valioso
08:07
that is called longitudinal data.
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chamado datos lonxitudinais.
08:10
Longitudinal data is a data set
that tracks the same patient
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Os datos lonxitudinais son un conxunto
de datos que monitorizan o mesmo paciente
08:15
over the course of many months or years.
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ó longo de moitos meses ou anos.
08:19
Nowadays, medical decisions
are often based on a limited data set,
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Actualmente, as decisións médicas adoitan
basearse nun conxunto limitado de datos,
08:24
where only a glimpse
of a patient's medical history
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onde só hai dispoñible unha ollada
ó historial médico dun paciente
08:27
is available for decision-making.
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para a toma de decisións.
08:30
In such a case,
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Neste caso,
08:32
abnormalities are typically detected
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as anomalías detéctanse normalmente
08:35
by comparing a patient's health profile
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comparando o perfil sanitario dun paciente
08:37
to the average health profile
of a reference population.
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co perfil sanitario medio
dunha poboación de referencia.
08:42
Longitudinal data would
open up a new dimension
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Os datos lonxitudinais abrirían
unha nova dimensión
08:46
and allow abnormalities to be detected
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e permitirían detectar anomalías
08:49
based on a patient's own medical history.
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baseándose no propio historial médico
dun paciente.
Isto abrirá o camiño
para un tratamento personalizado.
08:52
This will pave the way
for personalized treatment.
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08:56
Sounds pretty great, right?
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Soa bastante ben, non?
08:59
Now you will certainly have a question
that is something like,
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Agora teredes unha pregunta
que será máis ou menos así:
09:02
"If the technology is as great as he says,
then why aren't we using it today?"
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"Se a tecnoloxía é tan boa como di,
por que non se utiliza na actualidade?"
09:07
And the only answer I can give you is:
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E a única resposta que vos podo dar é:
09:09
not everything is as easy as it sounds.
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non todo é tan fácil como soa.
09:12
There are technical
challenges, for example.
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Hai desafíos técnicos, por exemplo.
09:16
There's the need for
extremely reliable sensors
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Está a necesidade de sensores
extremadamente fiables
09:19
that can detect mixtures
of volatile organic compounds
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que poidan detectar mesturas
de compostos orgánicos volátiles
09:22
with sufficient reproducibility.
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coa suficiente reproducibilidade.
09:25
And another technical challenge is this:
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E outro desafío técnico é este:
09:28
How do you sample a person's breath
in a very defined manner
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Como tomar mostras do alento de alguén
de xeito tan definido
09:33
so that the sampling process itself
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para que o propio proceso de mostraxe
09:35
does not alter the result of the analysis?
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non altere o resultado da análise?
09:39
And there's the need for data.
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E está a necesidade de información.
09:41
Breath analysis needs
to be validated in clinical trials,
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A análise do alento precisa ser validada
en ensaios clínicos,
09:45
and enough data needs to be collected
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e hai que recoller suficientes datos
09:48
so that individual conditions
can be measured against baselines.
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para que as condicións individuais
poidan medirse con respecto ós estándares.
09:53
Breath analysis can only succeed
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A análise do alento só pode funcionar
09:55
if a large enough data set
can be generated
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se se pode xerar un gran conxunto de datos
09:58
and made available for broad use.
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e facelo accesible ao uso xeral.
10:03
If breath analysis
holds up to its promises,
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Se a análise do alento
cumpre as expectativas,
10:06
this is a technology
that could truly aid us
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é unha tecnoloxía que de verdade
nos podería axudar
10:09
to transform our health care system --
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a transformar o noso sistema sanitario;
10:12
transform it from a reactive system
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transformalo dun sistema reactivo
10:15
where treatment is triggered
by symptoms of disease
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no que o tratamento o poñen en marcha
os síntomas de enfermidade
10:18
to a proactive system,
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a un sistema proactivo,
10:20
where disease detection,
diagnosis and treatment
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3214
no que a detección de enfermidades,
o diagnóstico e o tratamento
10:24
can happen at early stage,
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poden ocorrer nun estadio inicial,
10:25
way before any symptoms occur.
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moito antes de que se dean os síntomas.
10:29
Now this brings me to my last point,
and it's a fundamental one.
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Isto lévame ó último punto,
e é un fundamental.
10:33
What exactly is a disease?
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1989
Que é exactamente unha enfermidade?
10:36
Imagine that breath analysis
can be commercialized as I describe it,
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4035
Imaxinade que a análise do alento
poida ser comercializada como digo,
10:40
and early detection becomes routine.
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e a detección anticipada fose rutineira.
10:44
A problem that remains
is, in fact, a problem
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O problema que queda é, de feito,
un problema
10:46
that any screening activity has to face
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ó que debe enfrontarse
calquera medida de prevención
10:49
because, for many diseases,
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1821
porque, para moitas enfermidades,
10:51
it is often impossible to predict
with sufficient certainty
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é á miúdo imposible predicir
con suficiente seguridade
10:55
whether the disease
would ever cause any symptoms
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2542
se unha enfermidade chegaría
a causar síntomas
10:58
or put a person's life at risk.
190
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2122
ou poñer a vida dunha persoa en perigo.
11:00
This is called overdiagnosis,
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2559
Isto é o sobrediagnóstico,
11:03
and it leads to a dilemma.
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e leva a un dilema.
11:05
If a disease is identified,
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2084
Se se identifica unha enfermidade,
11:08
you could decide not to treat it
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2044
poderías elixir non tratala
11:10
because there's a certain probability
that you would never suffer from it.
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porque hai una probabilidade
de que nunca a vaias sufrir.
11:14
But how much would you suffer
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1499
Pero canto sufrirías
11:16
just from knowing that you have
a potentially deadly disease?
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3387
soamente sabendo que tes unha enfermidade
potencialmente mortal?
11:19
And wouldn't you actually regret
that the disease was detected
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2924
E non te arrepentirías
de que se detectase a enfermidade
en primeiro lugar?
11:22
in the first place?
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1257
11:25
Your second option
is to undergo early treatment
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3888
A segunda opción é someterse
a un tratamento anticipado
11:29
with the hope for curing it.
201
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1650
coa esperanza de curala.
11:31
But often, this would not come
without side effects.
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2829
Mais normalmente isto provocaría
efectos secundarios.
11:37
To be precise:
203
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2104
Para ser precisos:
11:39
the bigger problem is not overdiagnosis,
204
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2574
o maior problema non é o sobrediagnóstico,
11:42
it's overtreatment,
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1453
é o sobretratamento,
11:43
because not every disease
has to be treated immediately
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3015
porque non todas as enfermidades
teñen que tratarse ao momento
11:46
just because a treatment is available.
207
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2060
só porque haxa un tratamento dispoñible.
11:51
The increasing adoption
of routine screening
208
699441
2698
A crecente adopción
de exames rutineiros
11:54
will raise the question:
209
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1749
implicará a cuestión:
11:57
What do we call a disease
that can rationalize treatment,
210
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4091
a que chamamos “enfermidade”,
que pode xustificar o seu tratamento,
12:01
and what is just an abnormality
that should not be a source of concern?
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4588
e que é unha “anomalía” que non debería
ser motivo de preocupación?
12:07
My hopes are that routine screening
using breath analysis
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4932
Teño a esperanza de que as probas
rutineiras usando a análise do alento
12:12
can provide enough data and insight
213
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2760
acheguen suficientes datos
e mellor comprensión
12:15
so that at some point,
we'll be able to break this dilemma
214
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4546
para que nalgún momento,
poidamos romper este dilema
12:19
and predict with sufficient certainty
215
727714
2430
e predicir con suficiente seguridade
12:22
whether and when to treat at early stage.
216
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2690
se tratar e cando nun estadio inicial.
12:26
Our breath and the mixture of volatile
organic compounds that we exhale
217
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4719
O noso alento e a mestura de compostos
orgánicos volátiles que exhalamos
12:31
hold tremendous amounts of information
on our physiological condition.
218
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4670
conteñen gran cantidade de información
sobre a nosa condición fisiolóxica.
12:37
With what we know today,
we have only scratched the surface.
219
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3340
Co que sabemos hoxe,
só rozamos a superficie.
12:41
As we collect more and more data
and breath profiles across the population,
220
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4241
Canta máis información e perfís de alento
recollamos en toda a poboación,
12:46
including all varieties of gender,
age, origin and lifestyle,
221
754258
4532
incluíndo todo tipo de xénero, idade,
orixe e estilo de vida,
12:50
the power of breath analysis
should increase.
222
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2333
maior será o poder da análise do alento.
12:54
And eventually, breath analysis
should provide us with a powerful tool
223
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5578
E, co tempo, esta podería proporcionar
unha potente ferramenta
12:59
not only to proactively detect
specific diseases
224
767749
4466
non só para detectar proactivamente
enfermidades específicas
13:04
but to predict
and ultimately prevent them.
225
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3649
senón tamén para predicilas
e finalmente previlas.
13:09
And this should be enough motivation
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E esta debería ser motivación suficiente
13:11
to embrace the opportunities
and challenges
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4183
para aproveitar as oportunidades e
desafíos
13:15
that breath analysis can provide,
228
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2461
que pode presentar a análise do alento,
13:18
even for people that are not
part-time hypochondriacs like me.
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3402
incluso para a xente que non é
hipocondríaca a media xornada coma min.
13:22
Thank you.
230
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Grazas.
13:23
(Applause)
231
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4017
(Aplausos)

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Julian Burschka - Technologist
Driven by his curiosity, Julian Burschka is combining multiple technical disciplines with strong business acumen to drive innovation and enable new technological advancements.

Why you should listen

Julian Burschka has spent many years developing materials for efficient solar energy conversion. Notably he pioneered an elegant method to fabricate so-called perovskite solar cells -- seminal research that later was published in Nature and cited several thousand times since.

Born a scientist at heart, Burschka is constantly striving to expand his horizon and is thrilled by new technological discoveries that might fundamentally change our daily lives. More recently, his interest was sparked by ultra-sensitive gas sensors and the detection of volatile organic compounds for various applications.

In his current role as a senior project manager at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Burschka is leading a multinational R&D team that develops smart material solutions to enable next-generation displays. He holds a Master of Business Administration and a PhD in chemistry, both of which he obtained following multilingual studies in Germany, France and Switzerland.

More profile about the speaker
Julian Burschka | Speaker | TED.com

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