Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Did you know, one in five heart attacks is silent? That means the damage is done, but the person is not even aware they had one. That's why being able to predict changes in your heart, organs, and arteries is vital to preventing the worst from happening. Now, the first-ever wearable patch may be able to predict cardiovascular problems earlier than ever before.
According to the American Heart Association, every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a heart attack.
Every three and half minutes, someone will die of a stroke, according to the American College of Cardiology.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Research shows that 80% of all heart disease can be prevented by knowing and managing risk factors. That's why the team at the University of California San Diego lab is working on this.
A group of engineers is the first to develop a flexible, wearable, ultrasound patch.
"With ultrasound, we can penetrate the tissue and get very deep targets," said UCSD Nanoengineer Boyu Liu.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"For example, I can easily attach it to my carotid artery," said UCSD Material Sciences Sai Thou.
Embedded in a sheet of flexible polymer is an array of millimeter-sized ultrasound transducers.
When worn on the neck or chest, it can penetrate the tissue, monitor blood flow, blood pressure, and heart function, in hopes of predicting a heart attack or stroke.
"We can use sophisticated algorithms to predict what's going to happen in the next minute, in the next hour, or in the next few days," said UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering Ph.D. Nanoengineer Sheng Xu.
Knowing how fast the blood flows through the vessels can help diagnose blood clots, heart valve problems, poor circulation and blockages in the arteries, and help doctors save lives.
In tests, the patch performed as well as a commercial ultrasound probe currently used in doctors' offices.
Although they still have more testing to do, the researchers at UCSD are hopeful that this could be made available to doctors and their patients in the next two years.
