In a first, Nagpur-led trial of wrist-worn device to detect heart attacks gets ACC acceptance

Nagpur: The American College of Cardiology (ACC), which leads in the formation of health policy, standards, and guidelines for cardiovascular care, has accepted an original research trial done by four leading cardiologists in the city. The doctors will now present their paper as a ‘late-breaking trial’ in the ACC scientific session in New Orleans, USA, in March 2023. The work has been done in collaboration with Dr Partho Sengupta from the USA.
If everything goes well, a wristwatch-like device to analyze the troponin level in heart attack patients would become the new norm, and the blood test required for detection of troponin levels will become a thing of the past. Very high levels of troponin are a sign that a heart attack has occurred. It’s a valuable addition to ECG for the effective diagnosis of a heart attack.
Trials were conducted on hundreds of patients by four cardiologists – Dr Shantanu Sengupta, Dr Mahesh Fulwani, Dr Aziz Khan and Dr Harshwardhan Mardikar from Nagpur, and Dr Smit Shrivastava from Raipur. Though the doctors are not allowed to share their conclusions before March 2023, they were all assertive about the results.
“With advanced technology, we are already getting blood pressure, SPO2, and BPM on our wristwatches. Nowadays, it’s very normal to get ECG from a wrist-worn device too. Soon, the wristwatch-like device will conduct bloodless transdermal measurement of troponin-I,” said Dr Shantanu Sengputa, who is the lead author of this research. He claimed that this is the first time that any Indian work has been accepted by ACC.
“We are amongst 6 entries selected out of 15,000 papers received from across the world. It’s a matter of pride and honor for Central India and no less than winning a Nobel prize in cardiology,” he added.
Dr Smit Shrivastava said that the wrist-worn device will analyze the troponin level, not only saving time and effort taken for blood test, but also has the ability to save lives.
“Many people take heart burn and chest pain as acidity or gases, and hesitate to visit a cardiologist at early stage. When the wrist-worn device gives correct reading of troponin-I, doctors can quickly detect whether it’s a case of heart attack or just acidity,” said Dr Shrivastava.
WATCH TO WATCH OUT FOR HEART ATTACK
High levels of troponin in blood indicate recent heart attack
Only blood test can check troponin at present
Wrist watch like device tested in Nagpur and Raipur to track troponin levels
Device relies on infrared spectroscopic detection of troponin-I through skin
No need to draw blood and conduct lab tests
Research is first and only from India to be accepted by American College of Cardiology