VA Med Center tests saliva diagnosis for heart attacks

A diagnostic tool to detect heart attacks using a person’s saliva is now being tested at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center through a collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine and researchers at Rice University’s BioScience Research Collaborative.

John T. McDevitt, professor of chemistry and bioengineering at Rice University, and his team of researchers have developed a microchip sensor called the Nano-Bio-Chip that processes saliva and yields on-the-spot results. McDevitt says he intends to establish Houston as the hub of a biomarker highway, where Nano-Bio-Chips will be configured to diagnose a variety of diseases.

Typically, when a heart attack occurs, hospital staff or emergency medical technicians use an electrocardiogram machine to review heart activity. If the electrocardiogram is abnormal, the patient is immediately moved to an area to be treated. Unfortunately, electrocardiograms fail to correctly diagnose about a third of patients having a heart attack. These patients are monitored carefully in the emergency room, where further blood tests are used to look for certain biomarkers to verify whether a heart attack occurred.

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