Rapid and accurate bacterial identification is essential in biomedical diagnostics, infection control, and public health management. Conventional culture-based and biochemical diagnostic methods, although reliable, are time-consuming and require well-equipped laboratories and skilled personnel, often resulting in delayed clinical decision-making. Bacterial volatile organic compounds (VOCs), released as metabolic by-products, have emerged as promising non-invasive bi-omarkers for rapid and culture-independent bacterial identification. This study presents the development of a portable VOC-mediated and sensor-fusion-enabled bacterial identification system designed for biomedical diagnostic applications. The proposed device incorporates a hybrid gas sensor array comprising Photoionization Detector (PID), Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS), and electrochemical sensors to detect clinically relevant bacterial VOCs such as acetone, ethanol, ammonia, indole, sulphur-containing compounds, and ketones. These VOCs form species-specific metabolic fingerprints associated with pathogenic bacteria including Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp., and Staphylococcus spp. Sensor re-sponses are processed using sensor-fusion and pattern-recognition algorithms to enable rapid differentiation and identi-fication of bacterial species based on their VOC emission profiles. The system is designed to provide results within hours, significantly reducing diagnostic turnaround time compared to conventional methods. Emphasis is placed on non- invasive analysis, minimal sample handling, and portability, making the device suitable for point-of-care and field-based bio-medical applications. The expected outcome of this work is a functional prototype supported by a reference VOC database for common bacteria, demonstrating the feasibility of VOC-based biosensing as a rapid, low-cost, and scalable alternative to traditional microbiological diagnostic techniques.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Bacterial Metabolomics, Sensor-fusion Diagnostics, Hybrid Gas Sensor Array, Culture Independent Detection