Researchers to develop test to identify potential heart attack victims sooner.
Researchers in the Washington State University College of Engineering and Architecture have received a $750,000 grant from the Washington State Life Sciences Discovery Fund to develop a simple and quick blood test to easily identify heart attack victims before they show symptoms.
Led by Neil Ivory, professor in WSU’s School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, the research team plans to develop a test to quickly identify biomarkers that indicate a patient is at risk of suffering a heart attack. The team includes Prashanta Dutta, associate professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Wenji Dong, assistant professor in the School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering.
Heart disease leading cause of death in America
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, yet many of those who have heart attacks don’t realize they’re having a cardiac event for several hours, often ignoring or discounting early, low-level symptoms. Electrocardiograms are used to diagnose a heart attack, but they have to be performed by trained professionals and usually in a hospital setting. Many of those who die from heart attacks could be saved if they were diagnosed in advance of the onset of symptoms.
The WSU researchers seek to develop a test whose results could be determined in less than a minute. They envision a test that could administered in a doctor’s office, by an EMT—or perhaps even by at-risk patients themselves.
Ultimate goal? A product at-risk patients could use
The researchers eventually plan to work towards commercialization of the product. Dr. Ivory hopes to see a day in which patients at-risk for heart attacks can monitor their health in the same way that diabetics now have tools for monitoring their blood-sugar levels.
The Life Sciences Discovery Fund grant is one of six awarded throughout the state for 2007. The fund is supported by money awarded to the state through settlements with the tobacco industry.
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More about the Life Sciences Discovery Fund
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