In a new study, researchers have developed a hand-held device to predict heart failure based on saliva.
The new device could help millions of people take preventative steps to avoid their heart problems.
The research was conducted by a team from ed by Melbourne-based start-up, ESN Cleer and RMIT University.
Of the 400 million people who suffer from heart disease globally, only 16% of cases are due to genetic traits.
Heart disease currently accounts for nearly one-third of all global disease deaths each year.
Often, blood tests are only conducted after a heart failure episode. Such reactive testing is too late, leaving people with a debilitating illness or leading to deaths.
This underlines how much room there is to improve on screening and prevention, which is where this device could have such an impact.
In the new device, nano-sensors on the tip of the diagnostic stick measure heart disease biomarkers from saliva to accurately predict the risk of heart disease, failure or heart attack, then warn users via a simple app.
The sensing technology, developed at RMIT’s cutting-edge MicroNano Research Facility, was validated in the lab to measure biomarker concentrations thousand times more precisely than levels in human body fluids.
This is the first portable heart disease test with such high levels of accuracy.
Now a deal has just been signed to bring the life-saving technology to market.
The team from RMIT University and the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC) are researching and developing the device for pilot manufacture, with expectations it will hit the market by 2021.
They say the collaboration represented some of the best minds in medical device innovation, design, and manufacture.
One leader of the study is ESN Cleer CEO, Leopoldt de Bruin.
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