City-based research scholar designs ‘MyoTrack’ to fill diagnosis gap, prevent heart attacks
Visakhapatnam: Imagine getting admitted to an emergency ward with a crushing discomfort in the chest, only to be confirmed 'normal' following a couple of random tests. But in reality, a silent heart attack is brewing. Tracking such silent symptoms pretty early, research scholar of GITAM Deemed to be University Konda Venkata Sai designed a cost-effective cardiac biosensor 'MyoTrack'.
His innovation to bridge the diagnostic gap made him secure Prime Minister's Fellowship for doctoral research. Supported by Anusandhan National Research Foundation-Confederation of Indian Industry under the guidance and mentorship of Assistant Professor, department of life sciences, School of Science, GITAM Rahul Kumar, his research was selected for the PM's Fellowship among 51 scholars across India.
Disturbed by the rising number of heart attacks, especially among those under 40, Venkata Sai expresses concern over the alarming scenario of growing heart attacks. "For decades, doctors have relied upon two standard tools for triage. They include ECG and troponin test to spot proteins released by dying heart muscle," the research scholar shares with The Hans India.
There is a blind spot where patients experiencing active arterial blockages show elevated potential plaque instability biomarkers. "These vital markers are often neglected or overlooked, since the reports of ECGs and troponin indicate normalcy.
Research clearly indicates that during the critical troponin-blind window, patients who test negative for troponin but have elevated early-warning markers (like PAPP-A and H-FABP) experience significantly higher long-term mortality and up to a 4.5 times greater risk of severe cardiac attacks within 30 days," the researcher cautions, underlining the importance of detecting these specific indicators of plaque instability and heart stress to save lives.
Driven by the clinical urgency to bridge this diagnostic gap, the researcher says that the team worked on MyoTrack–a next generation, portable, point-of-care (POC) multiplexed cardiac biosensor and engineered to quantify early-risk cardiac biomarkers along with troponin.
Functioning as a serum-based diagnostic platform, the device replaces the traditional single analyte approach with a powerful multiplex panel. Analysing just a small blood sample via advanced electrochemical sensing technology, the device simultaneously tracks key markers such as capturing arterial plaque instability, early cardiac stress to active heart muscle injury and troponin release. "In a single, rapid test, it provides comprehensive results with an immediate snapshot of a patient's heart health integrating advanced AI/ML software, to predict the patient's risk score," Venkata Sai explains.
Following successful in-vitro laboratory validation, the innovation is currently progressing for the clinical trials. "Designed specifically for the challenges of the Indian healthcare scenario, the focus is on ultra-fast results, delivering a diagnosis in under 10-15 minutes compared to the hours it takes for lab-processed blood work," shares Venkata Sai.
Going forward, the preventative cardiac care platform could eventually be adapted to detect several neurological disorders, inflammatory diseases, making it a powerhouse for portable diagnostics in future.
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