Akash Manoj has
been reading medical literature for fun since he was in the 8th standard. It
comes as a little surprise then that this Class 10 student has developed
a device to predict ‘silent’ heart
attacks, identified as one a major health risk for thousands of
Indians.
Since the time
Akash was in class VIII, he started visiting the library at the Indian
Institute of Science in Bengaluru, which is more than an hour away from his
hometown Hosur in Tamil Nadu.
“Journal
articles are expensive, so visiting the libraries was the only way I could do
it. Otherwise, it would have cost more than a crore (of rupees) for the amount
I read. I was always interested in medical science and I liked reading the
journals…cardiology is my favourite,” said Manoj.
He is a
confident teenager who has been globe-trotting to attend various scientific
conventions. At the age of 15, his visiting card describes him as a researcher
in cardiology. He can speak at length about his project and break it down for
you if you cannot understand, so, board exams are not a big deal. “I have seen
people worried about board exams. I study for it, but it does not bother me,”
said Manoj.
It was his
grandfather’s death that prompted him to take up this project. “He was a
diabetic and had high blood pressure, but he was healthy otherwise. He had a
silent heart attack, collapsed and died,” he said.
That’s when he
embarked on a journey to create a device that could detect ‘silent heart
attacks’.
A heart attack
is characterised by chest pain, pain in the left arm or shortness of breath. A
person who has a silent heart attack may not show these symptoms at all.
Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels all put you at risk of a
silent heart attack.
Having a silent
heart attack puts people at a greater risk of having another heart attack,
which could be fatal. Having another heart attack also increases risk of
complications, such as heart failure.
The skin patch
invented by Akash has to be attached to the wrist or the back of the ear and it
will release a small ‘positive’ electrical impulse, which will attract the
negatively charged protein released by the heart to signal a heart attack. If
the quantity of this protein – FABP3 -- is high, the person must seek immediate
medical attention.
Clinical trials
for the medical device are on and it could be approved for a human trial. The
product would be fit to be launched in the market after two months of human
trial, assuming nothing goes wrong.
“I have already
filed for a patent and I would tie up with department of biotechnology for the
trial. I would want the government of India to take the project instead of
selling it to a private company because it is for the public good,” he said.
Akash aims to
study cardiology at the country’s premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences
in Delhi.
What is a silent
heart attack
•A silent heart
attack is when the symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath that are
indicative of heart attack is not felt.
•People mistake
it for indigestion, nausea, muscle pain or a bad case of the flu
•Having a silent
heart attack puts you at a greater risk of having another heart attack, which
could be fatal. Having another heart attack also increases your risk of
complications, such as heart failure
• The only way
to detect it is if electrocardiogram or echocardiogram is performed
How does the
device work
•A small silicon
patch stuck to your wrist or back of your ear can be used regularly to monitor
whether there has been a heart attack instead of waiting for a doctor to
prescribe a test
•The patch uses
a positively charged electrical impulse to draw negatively charged ---protein
to the surface
•If the amount
of FABP3 is high, then the person would need immediate medical attention
•People who are
at risk are recommended to use the device twice a day -- in the morning and at
night, before going to bed
•The product can
soon be seen in the market and would cost around R 900, cheaper than a
glucometer.
Source:
