One of the most crucial organs, the heart circulates nutrients and oxygen throughout the body by pumping blood. Heart disorders are increasingly prevalent in society nowadays. Heart attacks and strokes are quite common occurrences. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report from the previous year, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) constitute the main cause of death worldwide. As a result, maintaining your heart’s health is crucial.
Medical professionals can diagnose diseases early and reduce risks thanks to technological improvements in the field. According to a report from Australia, a pin-prick test may be able to detect the first indications of a heart attack.
A report by Australia-based hospitalhealth.com noted that scientists have developed a chip, that will apparently warn heart and stroke patients of high attack risk. The chip is wearable or can be kept in a bag. It can help people who are at risk of a heart attack.
Every year, about 55,000 people in Australia get a heart attack. According to the data, a comparable number experience strokes.
Blood clots are a major factor in a lot of heart attacks and strokes. The flow of blood to the heart is obstructed in the case of blood clots. At-risk persons frequently experience it without any physical warning.
According to experts, a heart attack happens when a blood clot entirely blocks the flow of blood to the heart muscle in a coronary artery, causing the heart muscle to die.
The blood clot that causes the heart attack usually forms at the site of rupture of an atherosclerotic, cholesterol plaque on the inner wall of a coronary artery.
Meanwhile, University of Sydney biomedical engineer Dr Arnold Lining Ju is developing a biomedical micro-device which is meant to detect these subtle platelet changes before a heart attack or stroke takes place.
According to the Australian scientists who developed it, this small device could transform the lives of people at risk of heart attacks and strokes in Australia and around the world.
What is the intended procedure?
A pin-prick test would be used by the micro-device to obtain a blood sample from the user’s finger. Following that, the sample would be examined for white cell inflammation and platelet clotting reactions. The information would be handled right away by an outside operating system, according to the study.
According to a remark from Ju in the article, ‘How this device would function is that an at-risk person, for example, someone with heart disease, would use it everyday.’ Ju is from the Faculty of Engineering and Sydney Nanoscience Hub.
‘Using a finger prick test, the device would monitor their blood and alert them to any potentially dangerous changes. If a change was detected, they would need to present for more monitoring at a hospital,’ Ju further said.
Ju is also a group affiliate of the Heart Research Institute’s Thrombosis Group.
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