A new handheld scanner may enable doctors to diagnose patients with heart disease instantly.

The scanner, developed by scientists from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 collaboration CARDIS, reads the heart’s vital signs and allows general practitioners to diagnose patients for the early onset of a cardiovascular disease, even at the preclinical level.

“At present, millions considered to be low or moderate risk are walking around undiagnosed,” project coordinator Mirko de Melis, Ph.D., said in a statement. “It is our long term goal to place such a device in the hands of the GP, the first point of contact for the mass population, as part of a routine health examination.”

The device uses photonics technology called laser doppler vibrometry to pick up vital information about the status of the heart using light.

The device harnesses the doppler effect—the phenomenon used to observe changes in pitch of light or sound from a fixed point.

The scanner builds up a vibration map of the chest and heart area using the doppler shift of the reflected light to highlight the telltale signs of heart disease, including plaque build-up, arterial stiffness or heart dyssyncrony.

“Our device employs the latest photonics technology, allowing a user to make measurements of the vibration characteristics of the heart without even touching it,” de Melis said. “A stiff artery creates a faster pulse pressure from the patient’s beating heart.

“By measuring the ‘pulse wave velocity’, we can assess the stiffness of the arteries using light and make informed judgements, long before the onset of cardiovascular disease.”

According to de Melis, by screening potential sufferers in their early 40’s, they could delay the onset of heart disease by five to 10 years.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of the death in the world with 17.3 million deaths in 2015, according to the World Health Organization.

Heart disease can be identified using a variety of medical tools including cardio biomarkers, cardiac catheterization, chest x-ray, electrocardiogram (ECG), Holter monitoring and cardiac MRI.

However, these diagnostic tools aren’t widely used for large populations due to expense or the complicated nature of the procedures.

A prototype of the device is expected to be unveiled in 2018.