A group of researchers from the Scripps Translational Science Institute in the USA has been hoping to see a device that would be able to predict the occurrence of a heart attack at an early stage, a recent report published in the Science Translational Medicine Journal uncovers.

The hopes are being seen following the findings of a study conducted by the team that reveal that “circulating endothelial cells” (CECs) are the main components in a heart attack and that these may play a vital role in detecting the incident earlier.

It has been found that the levels of CECs tend to rise with the arrival of a heart attack. The study funded by the Clinical and Translational Science Awards along with the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act was aimed at looking at the way the levels of particular blood cells change after a heart attack.

Around 50 patients who had suffered a heart attack along with 44 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the review. The same led the researchers to find that though the cells lie at the lining of the blood vessels, damage in the arteries cause these to enter the bloodstream, thereby leading to a heart attack. However, more evidence is still required, says the report.