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Monday, May 05, 2008
City boffins develop low-cost device to detect heart attacks
Mumbai: City scientists have developed ‘iSens’ – a low-cost biosensor which they say detects heart attacks well in advance.
Developed at IIT Mumbai’s Centre for Excellence of Nanoelectronics, the iSens is now being prepared for clinical trials and will be available by the end of this year, said Dr V Ramgopal Rao, who heads this project.
“Field trials will not take time since it is only a diagnostic tool. We are talking to some Indian and multinational companies to commercialise the product,” Rao said.
Not only is the cost kept low, he said, but the sensor also detects possible acute myocardial infarction up to six months in advance.
Dr V R Rao
The iSens is primarily a table-top box with a set of sensors, and costs between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000. Blood samples are taken on disposable cartridges, and inserted into the box for a period of around 10 minutes, Rao explained.
The box comprises nano-sized sensors, smaller than a millionth of a millimetre. These sensors measure the levels of proteins and enzymes – such as myoglobin, proponin and CK-MB – which can cause myocardial infarctions. Based on the concentration of these elements, the box displays a reading to classify the risk as low, medium or high.
“Our aim is to reach the iSens to the primary health care (PHC) centres. Only five per cent of
patients are able to reach hospitals, while 95 per cent go to PHCs or small clinics,” Rao said. “We can train the PHC personnel as the device will be simple to operate.”
The project was funded by the National Programme for Smart Materials and the National Programme on Micro and Smart Systems.
In association with his colleague Soumyo Mukherjee of the university’s Bio-School, Rao and his team have also developed small silicon lockets to be worn by patients. These lockets can take an ECG of the patient, and transfer the data to a doctor via a mobile phone.
Developed at IIT Mumbai’s Centre for Excellence of Nanoelectronics, the iSens is now being prepared for clinical trials and will be available by the end of this year, said Dr V Ramgopal Rao, who heads this project.
“Field trials will not take time since it is only a diagnostic tool. We are talking to some Indian and multinational companies to commercialise the product,” Rao said.
Not only is the cost kept low, he said, but the sensor also detects possible acute myocardial infarction up to six months in advance.
Dr V R Rao
The iSens is primarily a table-top box with a set of sensors, and costs between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000. Blood samples are taken on disposable cartridges, and inserted into the box for a period of around 10 minutes, Rao explained.
The box comprises nano-sized sensors, smaller than a millionth of a millimetre. These sensors measure the levels of proteins and enzymes – such as myoglobin, proponin and CK-MB – which can cause myocardial infarctions. Based on the concentration of these elements, the box displays a reading to classify the risk as low, medium or high.
“Our aim is to reach the iSens to the primary health care (PHC) centres. Only five per cent of
patients are able to reach hospitals, while 95 per cent go to PHCs or small clinics,” Rao said. “We can train the PHC personnel as the device will be simple to operate.”
The project was funded by the National Programme for Smart Materials and the National Programme on Micro and Smart Systems.
In association with his colleague Soumyo Mukherjee of the university’s Bio-School, Rao and his team have also developed small silicon lockets to be worn by patients. These lockets can take an ECG of the patient, and transfer the data to a doctor via a mobile phone.
posted by strangebeauty at 11:17 PM
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