Scientists develop ‘beneficial’ heart attack sensor

A team of researchers at Manchester University has developed a tiny electric sensor, which could potentially improve patient survival rates by telling doctors if a person has had a heart attack.

The project is an international collaboration led by Dr David J. Lewis, from Manchester’s School of Materials.

Cardiovascular disease deaths are greater than the combined deaths from all types of cancer and account for around 30% of adult deaths in the 30−70 year age group.

When someone has a heart attack, certain chemicals are released into their bloodstream in elevated amounts, and blood tests are therefore the key to diagnosis. 

Dr Lewis has worked with his colleagues and a team at India’s Institute of Nano Science and Technology since 2014 to develop a nanoscale sensor made from ‘few-layer black phosphorus’, a new 2D material, which was coated in DNA. The immobilised DNA binds to a chemical called myoglobin, which increases in blood plasma after a heart attack and can be detected and measured by a simple electrical test.

The sensor is potentially the most rapid and accurate method currently available to detect if someone has elevated levels of myoglobin – the measurement of which is used to check if someone has suffered a heart. If introduced into the clinic it could potentially improve patient survival rates after an attack.  

This work is the first example of 2D few-layer black phosphorus being used as a biological sensing platform.  The test could eventually be used at the patient bedside, possibly making diagnoses faster to obtain. The system has universal potential that could be applied to other targets beyond myoglobin.

“I was really pleased to publish a paper that used all my skills and the areas of interest that I have developed so far in my career – nanoscience and materials science, and their biological applications,” said Lewis. “My Dad suffered a heart scare in late 2013 and has been rehabilitating since, and I have lost good friends to heart disease, so I know full well the devastation that it can bring to individuals and families. The fact that it could potentially have societal impact beyond academia and could potentially improve patient survival and quality of life beyond a heart attack is, for me, amazing.”