Fingerstick BNP Test Diagnoses and Assesses Heart Failure Severity

A fingerstick b-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) test is an aid in diagnosis and assessment of heart failure severity.

The new test enables risk stratification of patients with heart failure as well as those with acute coronary syndromes. Providing rapid point of care (POC) BNP results to aid healthcare professionals in their decision making process, the compact BNP analyzer provides lab accurate results within 15 minutes from a 12µl capillary blood sample.

The heart check system was launched by Alere (Morges, Switzerland) and consists of a portable, compact analysis platform and the Alere heart check BNP test strips. The smart technology used in the test strips facilitates the simple testing process, making analysis quick, clean, and easy. The system offers an objective, noninvasive, diagnostic tool at the POC with excellent correlation to the established lab-based assay.

Heart failure is frequently confused with other conditions, such as lung disease, making an accurate diagnosis important to ensure that the most appropriate treatment and care is administered. BNP levels can help doctors differentiate between heart failure and other problems, because the level of natriuretic peptides in the blood increases as chronic heart failure advances.

Timely heart failure treatment decisions at the POC accelerate diagnosis and treatment and reduce readmission rates for heart failure patients and associated costs.

The Alere Heart Check system is CE marked, which expresses conformity with the requirements of the European in vitro diagnostic (IVD) Directive. It will initially be launched in Germany, Italy, Ireland, UK, and Sweden.


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