Engineers develop 10-minute test for heart condition

The instrument, developed by a team led by Rutgers University-New Brunswick and described in a study published in Communications Engineering, was shown in lab experiments to quickly and accurately test for transthyretin amyloidosis, a genetic condition that can cause heart problems.

The disease is caused by a genetic mutation in the transthyretin gene that can lead to heart failure, particularly in people of West African ancestry. Detecting this mutation early is important because it can be treated.

“Traditional genetic tests can take days or weeks to give results, which isn't ideal for quick diagnosis,” said Mehdi Javanmard, a professor and Paul S. & Mary W. Monroe Endowed Faculty Scholar with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Rutgers School of Engineering. “This research aims to develop a faster, cheaper and easier test that can be done during a regular doctor's visit.”

The device amplifies nucleic acid segments and detects mutations using a microchip and was developed in collaboration with Curt Scharfe and his team at Yale University. This new technology aims to bring a device equal to the performance and accuracy of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, typically confined to laboratories, into doctors’ offices and homes.