Science

The development of NMR technology revolutionized analytical chemistry in the 1950s by enabling chemists to determine the structure of molecules in hours as opposed to months or years. This was especially important in biochemistry and medicine since the structure of a molecule defines both its physical character and function. Over the past 50-plus years, NMR technology has been improved and has become a workhorse in analytical and medical research laboratories. Until now, its future as a clinical laboratory standard of care seemed a distant dream.

James Otvos, Ph.D. has brought the dream to life. In his early efforts to measure biomolecules in blood samples, Dr. Otvos and his research team developed a unique application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy that exploits a specific magnetic property of lipoproteins, the vehicles that carry lipids in the bloodstream. In a complex cascade of events, lipoproteins interacting with artery walls cause atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Knowing the patient’s number of low density lipoprotein particles can aid a clinician in the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease risk.

As recently as the 1990’s, quantifying lipoproteins was a difficult and time-consuming process. Dr. Otvos’ breakthrough reduces the analytical process to two steps, signal acquisition and analysis. There is no need to first separate the different lipoproteins before they are quantified and no need for chemical reactions or reagents. Using NMR technology, the time to obtain a quantitative result is shortened from hours or days to just minutes making lipoprotein analysis efficient, accurate, affordable and widely available.