A mobile cardiac biomarker testing device could detect heart attacks faster

A company is developing a mobile cardiac biomarker testing device for emergency rooms to rapidly […]

A company is developing a mobile cardiac biomarker testing device for emergency rooms to rapidly determine whether someone is having a heart attack and the likelihood of one occurring in the near future.

The test involves taking a blood sample using a disposable pin prick to detect the cardiac biomarker, troponin. Under stress, the protein is released into the bloodstream – the higher the stress level, the higher the level of troponin.

QLIDA Diagnostics, a spinout of Drexel University, claims the test is more sensitive and cost-effective than others being developed and can test multiple biomarkers simultaneously, in response to needs articulated by clinicians.

The device was first developed to detect a biomarker associated with inflammation called myeloperoxidase. The diagnostic technology for the device was developed by Elisabeth Papazoglou, the former associate professor of biomedical engineering at Drexel, who died of cancer last year.

Michael Boyce-Jacino is the CEO of QLIDA. A serial entrepreneur, Boyce-Jacino was previously CEO of BioNanomatrix (now BioNano Genomics), a spinout from Princeton University he co-founded that is commercializing nanofabricated single molecules to be used for research and diagnostics.

“Heart attacks are a fast event but diagnosis currently isn’t.” By using the diagnostic device, Boyce-Jacino said hospitals could more accurately triage patients and cut down on emergency room wait times. He added that the technology could be used to track the likelihood of a heart attack in the future. In addition to troptonin, the diagnostic device is also being used to measure levels of other cardiac markers that could indicate a heart attack such as brain natriuretic peptide, or BNP, hormone.

A way to detect myocardial infarctions earlier, faster and cost effectively has been a much sought after but elusive goal in the medical industry. Heart disease causes about 425,000 deaths each year, according to the National Institutes of Health and chest pain prompts 6 million emergency room visits each year. In addition to heart attacks, the company is planning to use the platform to measure emerging biomarkers in cardiovascular, diabetes and cancer.

The company has received funding from the Coulter Foundation, a group that funds university research, along with economic development agency Ben Franklin Partners of Southeast Pennsylvania and UK-based venture capital firm Net Scientific. It aims to raise $4 million in a Series A round to continue to develop the device and move it to regulatory approval. Boyce-Jacino said it expects the device to be ready for the market by the end of 2013.

Several companies have developed and are developing ways to measure key indicators to determine the risk of heart attack like the Scripps Translational Medicine Institute. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved more than 12 cardiac biomarker tests.

 

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