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How to Use the Nanogen Cardiac Status

When a doctor suspects that a patient has acute coronary syndrome (ACS), which is usually a sign of a heart attack or angina, he will likely order a cardiac biomarker test, which measures a substance that's released into blood if a heart becomes damaged, usually from a reduction of blood flow to the heart.

The American Association for Clinical Chemistry points out that the gold standard cardiac biomarker test used by most doctors is one that detects troponin, the most specific biomarker for ACS. The Nanogen Cardiac STATus is a troponin-based test that gives results in under one hour.

Things You'll Need

  • Timer
  • Micropipettor or single-use pipette tips
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Instructions

  1. Draw Blood

    • 1

      Levels of troponin are elevated within six hours of a heart attack and stay that way for up to 10 days. Nanogen's Cardiac STATus Troponin test can be used to measure the troponin levels. Start the test process by drawing at least 130 µL, but no more than 180 µL of sample blood and either place it in a tube with heparin or, if using serum, place it in a tube without the anticoagulant and allow it to clot for about 20 minutes.

    • 2

      Open the Cardiac STATus Troponin test package, put it on a level table top and then label it with the patient's name. Use a new Cardiac STATus Troponin test for every patient.

    • 3

      Perform centrifugation, a process in which the elements of blood are separated in a spinning device called a centrifuge, to prepare the sample and then take an aliquot for testing and place it into the sample well.

    • 4

      Interpret the results at 15 minutes. A negative result will appear as a single pink/purple band within the control (CON) area. A positive result will have a single pink/purple band within the control area, but will also include a distinct band in an area marked "TnI."

    • 5

      Nanogen's Cardiac STATus is provided as either a stand-alone Troponin I test or as a combination of Troponin I, Myoglobin and CK-MB, which includes additional cardiac biomarkers that are known to be connected to myocardium damage or cardiac myocytes for a more precise diagnosis.

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