Clinical validation of point-of-care diagnostics for cardiovascular and cardiorenal diseases

Our clinical research unit, based at the University Hospital of Ferrara and academically affiliated with the University of Ferrara (Italy), is interested in joining European consortia developing and validating innovative point-of-care (PoC) diagnostic technologies for cardiovascular, renal and internal medicine applications.

Our clinical and research expertise includes arterial hypertension, cardiovascular and cardiorenal risk assessment, hypertension-mediated cardiac, vascular and renal organ damage, chronic kidney disease, multimorbidity and the diagnostic management of complex patients in Internal Medicine.

We are particularly interested in rapid and reliable diagnostic tools capable of supporting timely clinical decisions in acute and high-risk cardiovascular and cardiorenal conditions, including acute kidney injury, acute cardiovascular decompensation and severe hypertension with suspected acute target-organ damage.

Expertise offered

• Identification of unmet clinical needs and definition of clinically relevant diagnostic use cases.

• Clinical assessment of cardiovascular and cardiorenal conditions, including hypertension-related organ damage.

• Definition of diagnostic endpoints, reference standards and clinically meaningful performance measures.

• Design of comparative clinical validation studies evaluating novel PoC devices against established diagnostic methods.

• Evaluation of diagnostic accuracy, clinical utility and integration into clinical decision-making pathways.

• Clinical interpretation of cardiovascular and renal biomarkers.

• Assessment of feasibility, usability and potential implementation in real-world clinical settings.

• Clinical study design, patient phenotyping and participation in multicentre research.

Potential clinical applications

We are particularly interested in point-of-care technologies supporting:

• Rapid identification and assessment of acute kidney injury and renal dysfunction.

• Early detection of acute cardiovascular decompensation.

• Assessment of cardiac or renal organ damage in patients presenting with severe hypertension.

• Rapid cardiovascular and cardiorenal risk assessment in complex patients.

• Integration of PoC diagnostic results with clinical information and decision-support systems.

Additional potential applications include cardiovascular and renal assessment in women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, particularly when rapid diagnostic evaluation is clinically necessary.

Partners sought

We are seeking collaboration with European research consortia, biomedical engineering groups, diagnostic technology developers, microfluidics and biosensor specialists, medical device manufacturers, laboratory medicine experts, and research institutions developing innovative PoC diagnostic platforms.

We are particularly interested in joining consortia with existing technologies requiring clinical optimisation, comparative performance assessment and validation in relevant clinical populations.

Proposed role

Clinical needs assessment, definition of cardiovascular and cardiorenal diagnostic use cases, clinical study design, patient phenotyping, diagnostic performance evaluation and clinical validation within a multidisciplinary European consortium.

Our contribution would focus on clinical and methodological expertise, complementing the technological development, manufacturing and regulatory expertise provided by specialised partners.