AsianScientist (Dec. 23, 2016) – Researchers have developed a sensor that can detect heart attacks within a minute. Their findings have been published in Biosensors & Bioelectronics.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. Therefore, a fast and reliable diagnosis of heart attack is urgently needed.
A team of researchers led by Professor Jang Jaesung from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology has developed an electrical immunosensor that detects heart attacks by measuring the level of cardiac troponin I (cTnI), a protein that is excreted by the heart muscle into the blood following a heart attack.
Using just a single droplet of blood, this immunosensor detects the target protein present in the blood serum following a heart attack. The sensor uses dielectric forces to attract the target protein, concentrating it on the sensor area and thereby reducing the incubation time required from 60 minutes to just one minute.
“The level of cTnI within a single droplet of blood serum is not great. However, we were able to attract the target protein onto the sensing areas via electrical forces, thereby greatly improving detection time and detection limit,” said Mr. Han Chang-Ho, a combined master’s-doctoral student in Jang’s group.
According to the researchers, this novel immunosensor holds considerable potential for use as a platform for sensing distinct types of proteins, along with the feasibility of miniaturization and integration for biomedical diagnosis.
The article can be found at: Sharma et al. (2016) Rapid Electrical Immunoassay of the Cardiac Biomarker Troponin I Through Dielectrophoretic Concentration using Imbedded Electrodes.
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Source: Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology.
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