Next-Generation Cardiovascular Risk Assessments Via State-Of-The-Art Lipoprotein Characterization

Project Summary Electronic BioSciences, Inc. (EBS) proposes to develop an entirely new analytical testing device for the quantitative characterization of lipoprotein particles in blood. Lipoprotein particles are the primary transporters of lipids (phospholipids, triglycerides, fatty acids, and cholesterol) in blood and other tissues. Lipoproteins are an important indicator of cardiovascular disease, as some classes of lipoproteins are responsible for transporting and depositing cholesterol on the walls of arteries, contributing to atherosclerosis, a harmful buildup of plaque linked with heart attack and strokes. However, the health risks of lipoprotein particles depend on their size, so diagnostics tests must precisely quantify the concentration, size, and other physical properties of lipoprotein particles in order to evaluate patient risks to cardiovascular health. Current standard cholesterol tests do not measure advanced lipoprotein particle metrics, resulting in poor diagnostic power. Advanced tests that do characterize lipoprotein particles are performed in complex and costly central laboratories by skilled personnel, making them unsuitable for rapid, clinical, point-of-care, and/or repeated testing. EBS’ proposed technology will utilize a compact, inexpensive instrument to characterize all blood lipoproteins (HDL, LDL, and VLDL) with higher speed, precision, sensitivity, and lower cost than current commercial tests. This devices’ high-precision and accuracy will provide new measurement capabilities to researchers studying the role of lipoproteins in cardiovascular health, and the efficacy and biological mechanisms of cholesterol-lowering drugs and other therapies. The high speed (minutes vs. days for central lab tests) and integrated nature of our proposed testing device will significantly reduce costs, technician training, and assay time in central laboratories, and will one day enable point of care advanced lipoprotein testing in clinics. These capabilities will improve cardiovascular disease diagnosis and treatment monitoring, making this lipoprotein assay the new “Gold-Standard” for cardiovascular disease/lipoprotein testing. With the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease, even modest improvements in diagnosis and treatment can save hundreds of thousands of lives per year worldwide.