A new blood test has been developed which can detect a heart attack within minutes, instead of hours.
Researchers at John Hopkins University said the new test could adapted as a tool for first responders and people at home.
Assistant Research Scientist Peng Zheng said heart attacks required immediate medical intervention in order to improve patient outcomes.
“But while early diagnosis is critical, it can also be very challenging and near impossible outside of a clinical setting,” Mr Zheng said.
“We were able to invent a new technology that can quickly and accurately establish if someone is having a heart attack.”
He said the process could also be modified to detect infectious diseases and cancer biomarkers.
Mr Zheng and study co-author Professor Ishan Barman developed diagnostic tools through biophotonics, using laser light to detect biomarkers, which were bodily responses to conditions including disease.
Professor Barman said they used the technology to find the earliest signs in the blood that someone was having a heart attack.
“Though an estimated 800,000-plus people have heart attacks every year just in the United States, heart attacks remain one of the trickiest conditions to diagnose, with symptoms that vary widely and biological signals that can be subtle and easy to miss in the early stages of an attack, when medical intervention can do the most good,” he said.
Professor Barman said people suspected of having heart attacks typically were given a combination of tests to confirm the diagnosis, usually starting with electrocardiograms to measure the electrical activity of the heart, a procedure that took about five minutes and blood tests to detect the hallmarks of a heart attack, where lab work could take at least an hour and often has to be repeated.
He said the stand-alone blood test the team created provided results in five to seven minutes and was more accurate and affordable than current methods.
“Though created for speedy diagnostic work in a clinical setting, the test could be adapted as a hand-held tool that first responders could use in the field, or that people might even be able to use themselves at home.
“We’re talking about speed, we’re talking about accuracy, and we’re talking of the ability to perform measurements outside of a hospital,” Professor Barman said.
Read the full study: Multiplexed SERS Detection of Serum Cardiac Markers Using Plasmonic Metasurfaces.
