A multi-institutional team, led by John T. McDevitt, reported at a recent meeting of the American Association for Dental Research that it may be possible to diagnose a heart attack in the early stages by using only a few drops of saliva and a new nano-bio-chip. The nano-bio-chip assay could some day be used to analyze a patient’s saliva on board an ambulance, at the dentist’s office or at a neighborhood drugstore, helping save lives and prevent damage from cardiac disease. The tests performed by the device, which is the size of a credit card, promise to dramatically improve the accuracy and speed of cardiac diagnosis.

 Photo by laszlo-photo