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. 2024 Jan 2;14(1):75.
doi: 10.3390/life14010075.

Development of a Digital Olfactory Function Test: A Preliminary Study

Hae Ryong Lee  1 , Kyung Soo Kim  2 , Hyun Jin Min  2
Affiliations

Development of a Digital Olfactory Function Test: A Preliminary Study

Hae Ryong Lee et al. Life (Basel). .

Abstract

Olfactory dysfunction is associated with conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases, mental illnesses, and upper-airway-related diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the development of an examiner-independent olfactory function test. We recently developed a digital olfactory function test called Digitalscent (DIGITAL SCENT), which is a kiosk-type device with an integrated hardware system. The protocol follows conventional psychophysical olfactory function protocols, including threshold, discrimination, and identification test subsets. Eight healthy participants without olfactory dysfunction volunteered for the suitability test and completed both the YSK olfactory function and Digitalscent tests. Pearson correlations were determined between the YSK olfactory function and Digitalscent tests. Digitalscent could be implemented as a conventional olfactory function test, and all participants followed the Digitalscent test protocols. Limitations in the threshold and identification test subsets included unfamiliarity of the patients to the digital test and incompleteness in the sophisticated release of odorants. A strength of the identification test subset was the dual sensory stimulation of vision and olfaction. Digitalscent could-without facilitating viral transmission-enable early diagnosis of olfactory dysfunction during respiratory viral pandemics. Future studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to facilitate wider use of this digital olfactory function test.

Keywords: digital olfactory test; olfaction; psychophysical testing; threshold–discrimination–identification (TDI).

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Conflict of interest statement

Author Hae Ryong Lee was employed by the company Digital Scent Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The Digitalscent olfactory function test device.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scent diffusion process. (A) Carrier gas line diagram for scent diffusion and cleaning. Scent diffusion is controlled by a direction-switching valve to pass through the source, while cleaning is carried out by bypassing the source. Cleaning is performed after scent diffusion to remove any remaining residue in the diffusion value line. (B) Timing chart for pump and valve control during the scent diffusion process. Scent diffusion begins with the control of the direction-switching valve in the source line (➀) to prevent mixing of the scent. The pump is then started (➁), leading to an increase in pressure, which initiates the flow of the carrier gas and the diffusion process through the source. The diffusion process concludes with the stopping of the pump (➂), followed by waiting until the flow of carrier gas ceases, and then controlling the direction-switching valve (➃).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Digitalscent screen images. (A) The Digitalscent screen is operated through touch gestures without tactile buttons. (B) Screen image of the identification subset test, which enables selections based on images.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The linear correlation between the Digitalscent and the YSK olfactory function tests. (A) Threshold test scores, (B) discrimination test scores, (C) identification test scores, and (D) TDI (overall threshold-discrimination-identification) scores were compared. The p-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The correct odorant identification rates according to the odorants in the Digitalscent identification subset.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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