Germs stink. Normally a source of annoyance and distaste, the pungency of bacteria is now being used as a diagnostic tool.

Scientists have developed a sort of artificial nose, capable of sniffing out a range of dangerous diseases and analysing patients’ blood for signs of sepsis and other infections.

With time a critical factor in all sickness, researcher James Carey says the new nose could cut down sepsis diagnoses by several days: “The current technology involves incubating blood samples in containers for 24-48 hours just to see if bacteria are present... it takes another step and 24 hours or more to identify the kind of bacteria in order to select the right antibiotic to treat the patient... by then, the patient may be experiencing organ damage, or may be dead from sepsis,” Mr Carey said.

The nose is little more than a plastic bottle filled with liquid nutrients to promote bacteria growth. Inside the bottle an array of chemical dots change colour when tiny amounts of tell-tale odours are released.

The simple device is part of a range of inventions which use the under-valued sense of smell as a powerful diagnostic instrument. Recent developments have seen similar artificial noses created to detect forms of cancer from only the breath, and as a quick check for explosives.

Scientists unveiled their new nose at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) over the weekend.