Philip's handheld device diagnoses heart attacks with one drop of blood

Royal Philips has launched of a new handheld blood test, the Minicare I-20 system, for rapid diagnosis of a heart attack at the point of care

As a result, patients with chest pain presenting at the emergency department are set to benefit from this innovation, which Philips said it has recently CE marked for compliance with the European in vitro diagnostic medical devices directive.

The handheld Minicare I-20 system measures the level of cardiac troponin I (cTnI), a protein that is excreted by the heart muscle into the blood following a heart attack.

It delivers test results, comparable with those obtained by laboratory testing, in less than 10 minutes near the patient, reducing the time for a physician to decide on the appropriate treatment pathway, according to the company.

The Minicare I-20 system consists of a connected handheld analyser, software and a single-use disposable cartridge containing an application specific test based on Philips’ proprietary biosensor technology.

Marcel van Kasteel, CEO of handheld diagnostics at Philips, said: “The commercial launch of the Minicare I-20 system for cardiac troponin I testing represents a major milestone for us.

“I am convinced that we will be able to make a real difference for patients and care providers.

“Minicare I-20 is designed to help care providers reduce both the time-to-treatment and time-to-discharge of patients, thereby helping to reduce crowding in emergency departments and improve the utilisation of hospital resources.”

Paul Collinson, consultant chemical pathologist at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Blood samples are usually analysed in the hospital laboratory, and it can easily take more than an hour to get the result back to the emergency department physician.

“Point-of-care testing can significantly help to reduce the turnaround time.”

The Minicare I-20 was tested in real-life acute care settings within the European Lab2Go project, a consortium of European hospitals.

The study showed the potential of Philips Minicare cTnI system to accurately measure cTnI values, near the patient in the emergency department, with a turnaround time of less than 10 minutes.

The new test is being introduced in selected countries in Europe including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.