Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, United States, have designed new nanoparticles, comprised primarily of bismuth, which are able to find dangerous blood clots before they cause heart attacks. The nanoparticles will eliminate the guesswork out of deciding whether a person coming into the hospital with chest pain is actually having a heart attack. A new type of CT scanner, which is capable of “seeing” metals in color, can, in conjunction with the nanoparticles, reveal the location of a blood clot in a matter of hours. The nanoparticles contain a molecule that seeks out a protein called fibrin – something common in blood clots but not found elsewhere in the vasculature. Gregory Lanza, MD, PhD, a Washington University cardiologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, says “[I]f you’re having a heart attack, the lining of your coronary artery has ruptured, and a clot is forming to repair it. But that clot is starting to narrow the vessel so blood can’t get by. Now we have a nanoparticle that will see that clot.” The nanoparticles will also allow doctors to see problems that were previously difficult or impossible to detect. The article can be viewed online at the link below.