Finding blocked vessels with wristband sensor

Emergency physicians and cardiologists at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle are studying whether a wristband sensor can detect a heart-vessel blockage quickly and reliably in people who arrive after experiencing an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

The wristband sensor being studied is designed to detect high troponin levels within three to five minutes of application. Image credit: Dana Morse, University of Washington

Cardiac arrest involves an electrical malfunction that causes an irregular heartbeat, after which the heart stops pumping. Some people who experience this event — after being resuscitated and brought to a hospital — are found to also have suffered a heart attack, caused by a blocked coronary artery.

Identifying such a potential blockage quickly is crucial so those patients can be stabilized and undergo a procedure to clear the blockage.

To diagnose a blockage, physicians traditionally place electrodes on the chest to record the heart’s electrical signals (electrocardiogram), but this screening can lack accuracy among people who have experienced a cardiac arrest. In another approach, blood is drawn to measure troponin, a protein that a damaged heart muscle releases into the bloodstream. But in busy hospitals, it can take hours to get lab results of blood test.

The novel wristband sensor being studied is designed to detect high troponin levels within three to five minutes of application, said Dr. Graham Nichol, an emergency physician at the University of Washington School of Medicine and director of Harborview’s Center for Prehospital Emergency Care. He is supervising the proof-of-concept test of the device, Tropsensor, manufactured by RCE Technologies of Carlsbad, Calif.

“Early recognition of acute coronary occlusion could allow us to rapidly restore blood flow to the heart, which improves the short- and long-term outcomes for patients with unrecognized heart attacks,” Nichol said. He added that the device could  also be used with people who arrive at the Emergency Department reporting chest pain.

Nichol said the study will involve 30 patients, whose outcomes will be studied over time. He expects to report findings in 2024.

Obtaining a patient’s consent during this emergency care period is not feasible, and the University of Washington Institutional Review Board has approved a waiver of consent for this study.

Source: University of Washington

You can offer your link to a page which is relevant to the topic of this post.