According to World Health Organization reports, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are amongst the major causes of death globally and are responsible for over 18 million deaths every year. Traditional detection methods for CVDs include cardiac computerized tomography scans, electrocardiography, and myocardial perfusion imaging scans. Although diagnosis of CVDs through such bio-imaging techniques is common, these methods are relatively costly and cannot detect CVDs in their earliest stages. In contrast, the levels of certain micro RNA (miRNA) biomarkers extracted from extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the bloodstream have been recognized as promising indicators for early CVD detection. However, detection and quantification of miRNA using existing methods are relatively labor-intensive and time-consuming. In this study, a new integrated microfluidic system equipped with highly sensitive field-effect transistors (FETs) was capable of performing EV extraction, EV lysis, target miRNA isolation and miRNA detection within 5 h. The limit of detection was within the physiological range (femtomolar) for two targeted miRNAs, miR-21 and miR-126, meaning that this integrated microfluidic system has the potential to be used as a tool for early detection of CVDs.

中文翻译：

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用微流系统检测细胞外囊泡中的miRNA生物标志物是否存在心血管疾病† ‡

根据世界卫生组织的报告，心血管疾病（CVD）是全球主要的死亡原因之一，每年导致超过1800万人死亡。CVD的传统检测方法包括心脏计算机断层扫描，心电图和心肌灌注成像扫描。尽管通过这种生物成像技术诊断CVD很普遍，但是这些方法相对昂贵并且不能在早期阶段检测到CVD。相反，从血液中从细胞外囊泡（EV）提取的某些微RNA（miRNA）生物标志物的水平已被公认为是早期CVD检测的有希望的指标。但是，使用现有方法检测和定量miRNA相对耗费大量人力和时间。在这项研究中，配备了高度灵敏的场效应晶体管（FET）的新型集成微流体系统能够在5小时内执行EV提取，EV裂解，靶标miRNA分离和miRNA检测。对于两种靶向的miRNA miR-21和miR-126，检测限在生理范围内（飞摩尔），这意味着该集成的微流体系统有潜力用作早期检测CVD的工具。