Background: Troponin is the preferred biomarker for diagnosing myocardial infarction. Point of care devices have not matched the sensitivity of laboratory-based methods for measuring troponin. The Nanomonitor is a novel point-of-care device that uses the change in electrical impedance that occurs when a biomarker binds to its antibody, which is then correlated to the concentration of the target biomarker.
Methods: Performance characteristics of the Nanomonitor were evaluated and compared to a standard laboratory-based method.
Results: The limit of detection of the Nanomonior for troponin T was 0.0088ng/l. Total imprecission was 2.38% and 0.85% at troponin T concentrations of 73ng/l and 1800ng/l. The functional sensitivity (10% coeffecient of variation) was 0.329ng/l. The linear regression had a slope of 0.996 (95% confidence interval, 0.991, 1.002), r=1.00, and an intercept of 15.88ng/l (95% confidence interval, -68.39ng/l, 100.15ng/l). The mean difference between the assays was -7.54ng/l, determined by Bland-Altman analysis.
Conclusion: The Nanomonitor preliminary results have favorable performance characteristics for detecting troponin T in patient blood, provide results in 15min, and are portable. More research is needed.
Keywords: Functional sensitivity; Nanotechnology; Point-of-care; Troponin T.
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