Now thermometer-like device can diagnose heart attack

American scientists have developed a simple, thermometer-like device that can help doctors diagnose heart attacks with minimal materials and cost.

The scientists from American Chemical Society observed that commonly heart attack diagnosis involves measuring the level of a protein i.e. troponin in the patient's blood as protein's concentration rises when blood is cut off from the heart, and the muscle is damaged, but this process gets expensive due to involvement of big heavy machines.

Sangmin Jeon and his colleagues invented this thermometer-like device which is a sensitive and an accessible test that will detect troponin in a simpler and a cost-effective way.

Jeon explained that the process involves a glass vial, specialized nanoparticles, a drop of ink and a skinny tube and if the human serum with troponin is mixed with the nanoparticles and put in the vial, the ink climbs up a protruding tube just like a thermometer.

The researchers concluded that with the help of their new device the number of deaths related to cardiovascular disease will decrease as three-quarters of this disease occur in low-and-middle-income countries that can't afford costly machines for diagnosis.

The research is published in the Analytical Chemistry journal.