A domestic research team has developed a test for the early detection of myocardial infarctions.

The team, led by Korea University professors Lee Ji-won and Kim Young-geun, says it developed a method to measure the level of a protein called troponin in blood using nanotechnology. Patients with higher levels of troponin have an increased risk of myorcardial infarction.

The newly developed method is up to ten million times more accurate in gauging troponin levels than existing tests.

The finding was published in the international multidisciplinary journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Myocardial infarction, more commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart is interrupted.