"German researchers say theyre a step closer to developing an electronic nose that can distinguish between people who have heart failure https and those who dont. The device has gas sensors that detect various odorous molecules in sweat. Specially developed software divides patients into groups depending on the pattern of molecules detected. We saw two distinct patterns one of which correlated with heart failure says study leader Vasileios Kechagias a PhD candidate at the University Hospital Jena. The goal of the project is to develop a simple accurate noninvasive and reproducible method for early identification of chronic heart failure he tells WebMD.  Million Have Heart Failure in U.S. More than  million Americans have heart failure which occurs when the heart muscle loses its ability to pump enough blood throughout the body. http Fluid can back up into the lungs https leaving people short of breath. The new study involved  people with heart https failure so severe that they were comfortable only at rest  people with less severe heart failure and  healthy people. The electronic nose correctly identified  of the people who had heart failure and  of people that didnt have the condition. Still that means that  of cases would have been missed and  of people would have been told they had a lifethreatening condition when they didnt. The new device was about that accurate at differentiating between severe and less severe heart failure patients. The findings were presented here at the European Society of Cardiology Congress . Frank Ruschitzka MD of Zurich University Hospital tells WebMD that ideas that at first seem crazy can turn out to be lifesaving. We need people to swim against the stream. Someone had the idea to put three leads in a device and pace the heart the pacemaker https now saves millions of lives he says. Still much more work is needed before we will know if the electronic nose will make it to the clinic says Ruschitzka who moderated a news briefing to discuss the findings. The researchers are now testing more than  patients and trying to identify the odorous molecules unique to heart failure patients Kechagias says."