India develops affordable nano sensors to detect heart attack

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - A team of Indian scientists and engineers has developed affordable sensors using nano materials to detect a heart attack quickly.

“The device with nano sensors can not only detect a heart attack, but also transmit its signal through a wireless interface to doctors located remotely for quick diagnosis and treatment,” Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Mumbai) professor V. Ramgopal Rao said Wednesday.

Rao told delegates at the 97th Indian Science Congress here that the prototype would soon be introduced as a portable device in the market to help thousands of people prone to sudden cardiac disease wear it and carry on with their lives.

“The three-dimension sensors use nano electrical mechanical system (NEMS) of its polymer material to convert any abnormal movement in the heart muscles into an electrical signal for detecting a cardiac symptom,” Rao said at a plenary session on ‘Nano Technology and Education’ at the country’s premier science event.

The team has built a cantilever in the sensor using tiny or nano-particles of the polymer to measure the stress symptom (myocardial infarction) in the heart and convert it into an electrical signal.

Nano-particles, measured as one billionth of a metre (39 inches), in a polymer generate electrical current through biochemical process of the enzymes produced in the heart.

The department of electrical engineering at IIT Mumbai took up the project in 2007, with funding from multiple agencies to develop affordable sensors for early detection of heart disease.

“When the heart goes through severe stress or strain, it suddenly releases enzymes (protein molecules) in excess, causing pressure on its blood vessels and exertion, which manifest as chest pain, perspiration or even a cardiac arrest.

Heart attacks, a cardiac disease, are on the rise in India owing to improper food habits and sedentary lifestyle of the people, especially in urban areas and hazardous occupations causing stress and strain.

According to a recent study by Medwin Heart Foundation, a health organisation based in Hyderabad, about 60 percent of heart diseases worldwide are likely to occur in India by this year-end.

“With so many Indians prone to heart diseases irrespective of age and gender, the portable device will enable cardiac diagnosis affordable and quick as against multiple and expensive tests carried out presently using conventional methods,” Rao noted.

The study also revealed that half of all heart attacks across the country occur to people below 50 years and 25 percent under the age of 40 due to unhealthy diet, smoking, chewing tobacco, physical inactivity and changing lifestyle of the growing urban populace.