Police dog Tiehu checks a passenger's backpack at the Hefei Railway Station in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)

MOSCOW, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Russian scientists are developing a device capable of detecting tiny traces of drugs and explosives in the air, which could potentially substitute sniffer dogs.

"We have tested a hardware and software complex in conditions close to the real-world environment, and it has shown that the sensitivity of our bio-hybrid system is comparable to sniffer dogs' olfactory systems," project leader Fyodor Arsenyev said Monday.

The new system will be effective in detecting banned drugs and dangerous substances in crowded public places, Arsenyev was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

But he did not say when the production of the device may start.

The project is carried out by the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects, a state-run institute for new technologies in the interests of national defense and security.