IBM researchers said their test is based on an innovative silicon chip that requires less sample volume, is significantly faster and easier to use than similar existing tests. IBM said the new technology is designed to allow physicians to react in seconds instead of minutes or hours.

"The results are so quick and accurate that a small sample of a patient's serum or blood could be tested immediately following a heart attack to enable the doctor to quickly take a course of action to help the patient survive," IBM scientists said in a statement.

The new technology was developed by IBM-Zurich, Switzerland, scientists Luc Gervais and Emmanuel Delamarche in collaboration with the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland. IBM said it uses capillary forces to analyze tiny samples of serum or blood for the presence of disease markers, which are typically proteins that can be detected in people's blood for diagnostic purposes.

"We are giving back precious minutes to doctors so they can make informed and accurate decisions right at the time they need them most to save lives," Delamarche said.

The achievement is reported in the December issue of the journal Lab on a Chip.