An electronic nose currently under development at California University could make sniffer dogs redundant.

The new device is hoped to replace sniffer dogs at high traffic areas such as airports, shopping centres and shipping terminals within the next ten years.

Yushan Yan, a chemical and environmental engineering professor at California University, is in charge of the project and feels that the technology could be especially useful for security and military forces throughout the world.

“The sensor we are developing certainly has many possible applications, including hand-held devices for military operations,” said professor Yan.

“They can also be useful at baggage x-ray machines or placed near passenger metal detectors in screening areas, quickly ‘breathing’ in samples of air as people and luggage pass through,” continued Yan.

The technology has developed especially quickly in the last decade and has been proven to detect explosive substances like TNT and certain gases almost as well as the canine version.

Despite these advances in the technology it is still well behind the sniffing capabilities of the humble sniffer dog.