Can Gold Nanoparticles Help Predict Heart Attacks?
- Chuck Seegert for MED Device Online January 20th, 2015
- Source: http://www.meddeviceonline.com/doc/can-gold-nanoparticles-help-predict-heart-attacks-0001
Engineers from the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, in collaboration with Peking University researchers, have been developing a new, more sensitive test strip for a biomarker common in heart attack victims. The team created a new fabrication approach that makes colloidal gold nanoparticles with an increased sensitivity for this biomarker, which could provide early detection for heart attacks.
The biomarker called cardiac troponin I (cTn-I) is common in heart attack victims. Sometimes this biomarker can be elevated up to several thousand times the concentration found in healthy people. If it were detected earlier, the biomarker could be used to help prevent heart attacks before they occur.
