Johns Hopkins University (JHU) researchers have introduced a tiny chip with a unique surface that can swiftly and accurately detect blood biomarkers of a heart attack within minutes, far surpassing the speed of current methods, even at very low concentrations. The team behind this device says it could be adapted as a tool for first responders and people at home.
In the critical moments of a heart attack, time is of the essence. The sooner it’s diagnosed, the quicker blood flow can be restored to the heart, minimizing damage and improving patient outcomes. However, heart attacks present with symptoms that can vary widely from person to person.
In the high-stakes setting of an emergency room, every minute counts when it comes to diagnosing a potential heart attack. Currently, patients must endure a waiting period of one to two hours for the results of crucial blood tests, including those for creatine kinase and troponin, biomarkers indicating heart muscle damage.
Led by JHU researchers, a new cutting-edge chip with a groundbreaking nanostructured surface has been designed to swiftly detect these vital biomarkers in just minutes, even if they are present at very low concentrations.
“Heart attacks require immediate medical intervention in order to improve patient outcomes, but while early diagnosis is critical, it can also be very challenging—and near impossible outside of a clinical setting,” said lead author Peng Zheng, an assistant research scientist at Johns Hopkins University. “We were able to invent a new technology that can quickly and accurately establish if someone is having a heart attack.”
The heart of the invention is a tiny chip’s “metasurface” that enhances electric and magnetic signals during Raman spectroscopy analysis. First, a single layer of meticulously arranged polystyrene beads forms a hexagonal pattern on a quartz substrate. Subsequent deposition of alternating thin layers of gold and silica fills the gaps between the beads, resulting in the formation of nanosized pyramid-like stacks of gold and silica meta-atoms after the beads are removed.
This ingenious combination of metal (gold) and dielectric (silica) serves to enhance the chip’s electric and magnetic fields, thereby significantly improving the ability of Raman spectroscopy to analyze the patient’s blood.
Raman spectroscopy, a powerful technique of chemical analysis, provides comprehensive information about a substance by leveraging a wide range of laser wavelengths to interact with its chemical bonds.
The chip’s astounding capabilities enabled it to swiftly detect heart attack biomarkers within seconds, even at ultra-low concentrations. It was sensitive enough to identify biomarkers earlier than current tests and detect them long before a heart attack event.
“We’re talking about speed, we’re talking about accuracy, and we’re talking of the ability to perform measurements outside of a hospital,” said Barman, a bioengineer in JHU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. “In the future, we hope this could be made into a hand-held instrument like a Star Trek tricorder, where you have a drop of blood and then, voilà , in a few seconds, you have detection.”
The researchers envision this tool as an at-home heart attack detector in the future. Not only is it designed to diagnose heart attacks, but it could also be modified to detect infectious diseases and cancer biomarkers, according to the researchers.
“There is enormous commercial potential,” Barman said. “There’s nothing that limits this platform technology.”
The team’s next steps involve further refining the blood test and delving into larger clinical trials.
Journal reference:
- Peng Zheng, Lintong Wu, Piyush Raj, Jeong Hee Kim, Santosh Kumar Paidi, Steve Semancik, Ishan Barman. Multiplexed SERS Detection of Serum Cardiac Markers Using Plasmonic Metasurfaces. Advanced Science, 2024; DOI: 10.1002/advs.202405910
