MUSC Health Florence (S.C.) Medical Center is the first hospital in the state to implement Abbott’s i-STAT 1 instrument with the high-sensitivity troponin I cartridge to accelerate heart attack detection.
The test measures low levels of cardiac troponin I — a protein released when the heart muscle is damaged — and delivers results in about 15 minutes at the patient’s bedside, according to a Feb. 23 news release from Charleston, S.C.-based MUSC Health. Traditional tests can take up to an hour and often require lab processing, delaying critical treatment decisions in emergency settings.
Leaders called the technology a “once in a decade type of change” that will help emergency teams act faster and save more lives. The point-of-care test is already being used in the emergency department and was credited with quickly ruling out a heart attack in one of the first patients to receive it at the facility.
