Benchtop NMR used to assess heart disease risk

A groundbreaking study has successfully translated high-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy-based lipoprotein analysis to low-cost and easy-to-use benchtop NMR systems, enabling more accessible, high-throughput cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment in clinics and laboratories worldwide.

Led by an international team of researchers from the Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC) at Murdoch University, CIC bioGUNE, Monash University and Bruker BioSpin, and published in the journal Analytical Chemistry, the method presents a major step towards making molecular phenotyping accessible in routine clinical practice.

Lipoproteins are well known to play a critical role in cardiovascular health, with their composition and concentration directly linked to CVD risk. They are also associated with a broader spectrum of medical conditions, such as diabetes and obesity.

Current clinical methods for lipoprotein profiling focus on a very narrow set of blood markers, mainly targeting cardiovascular diseases. While current NMR techniques provide a much more detailed profile, they require high-field NMR spectrometers and specialised facilities that are extremely expensive, limiting their use in clinical environments.

The research team developed a calibration model allowing benchtop NMR spectrometers (80 MHz) to accurately quantify 25 key lipoprotein markers, including total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C, ApoA1, and ApoB100, in <15 min per sample. These markers are essential for assessing cardiometabolic risk and monitoring inflammatory conditions, providing clinicians with a rapid and reliable diagnostic tool.

According to ANPC Director and co-study lead Professor Jeremy Nicholson, the ability to perform high-precision lipoprotein analysis on compact, easy-to-maintain instruments represents a paradigm shift in preventive medicine.

“Currently most CVD risk markers are only measured on high-risk patients, and it would be much better to detect these markers earlier to enable corrective action,” Nicholson said.

“This new approach will also allow us to study the general population at scale for the first time.”

Contributing researcher Dr Philipp Nitschke, also from ANPC, added: “By eliminating the barriers associated with high-field NMR, we are enabling broader access to detailed lipid profiling, which could significantly improve early detection and management of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.”

The affordability and accessibility of benchtop NMR technology could transform cardiovascular disease screening, particularly in resource-limited settings or in geographically vast regions with dispersed populations. Furthermore, the technology’s potential extends beyond CVD risk assessment to applications in diabetes management, chronic inflammatory disease monitoring and even infectious disease, leveraging ANPC’s discovery of new biomarkers of active viral infections.

“Lipoprotein benchtop NMR analysis marks an important step in advancing cardiovascular disease research, and we are optimistic that this will pave the way for breakthroughs in other disease areas,” said Dr Falko Busse, Group President of Bruker BioSpin.

“The successful translation of models from high-field to benchtop NMR demonstrates its feasibility, and we anticipate further advancements through the integration of AI-driven analytical approaches. Bruker is committed to continuing this impactful collaboration with ANPC, expanding the possibilities of benchtop clinical translational research.”

Colin La Galia, Chair of The Hospital Research Foundation Group (formerly Spinnaker Health Research Foundation, which co-funded the research), said this technology could be “one of the most important contributions to population health and preventative medicine ever seen”.

“Having this technology more accessible and affordable will change the way we manage heart disease and other chronic conditions, ultimately saving lives,” he said.

The researchers plan to further refine the benchtop NMR model, expanding its capabilities for broader clinical applications. Ongoing work will explore its use in tracking disease progression and response to treatment using micro-sampling strategies, reinforcing the role of NMR-based diagnostics in modern medicine.

Image: Supplied.