NASA Spinoff

Health and Medicine

Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Burnishing Techniques Strengthen Hip Implants

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

When compressed air mixes with jet fuel and is ignited in a turbine engine, the temperature can reach 3,000 °F. As a result of this fiery...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

When you think of a beating heart, you might assume it beats at regular intervals, but in actuality, velocity and pressure change with...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

While the human eye can see a range of phenomena in the world, there is a larger range that it cannot see. Without the aid of...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In the 1980s, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) scientists James Stephens and Charles Miller were studying the harmful properties of...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In spring 2008, Dr. Scott Dulchavsky diagnosed high-altitude pulmonary edema in a climber over 20,000 feet up the slope of Mount Everest....

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

You may have heard the phrase “as difficult as walking and chewing gum” as a joking way of referring to something that is not...

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Spinoff: Health and Medicine
NASA Bioreactors Advance Disease Treatments

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

The International Space Station (ISS) is falling. This is no threat to the astronauts onboard, however, because falling is part of the ISS...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

On July 5, 1997, a small robot emerged from its lander like an insect from an egg, crawling out onto the rocky surface of Mars. About...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

On Earth, gravity can cause a lot of stress to a person’s bones and muscles, whether the stress is caused by running a marathon or...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

In January 2009, birds struck the engines of US Airways Flight 1549 and forced an emergency landing into the Hudson River. Everyone on...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Beginning in 1985, a team of engineers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore began developing software to manage various...

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Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Web-Based Programs Assess Cognitive Fitness

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Astronauts, pilots, air traffic controllers, truck drivers, shift workers, and mountain climbers have something in common: All are at risk for...

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Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Electrolyte Concentrates Treat Dehydration

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

For astronauts returning to Earth, adjusting to full gravity can be just as demanding as any of the challenges they faced in space. While...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Since the earliest missions in space, NASA specialists have performed experiments in low gravity. Protein crystal...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

“Dentists,” comedian Bill Cosby memorably mused, “tell you not to pick your teeth with any sharp metal object....

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Who would have thought that stargazing in the 1980s would lead to hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren seeing more clearly today?...

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Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Robotic Joints Support Horses and Humans

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

A rehabilitative device first featured in Spinoff 2003 is not only helping human patients regain the ability to walk, but is now helping our...

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Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Lockable Knee Brace Speeds Rehabilitation

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Marshall Space Flight Center develops key transportation and propulsion technologies for the Space Agency. The Center...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Langley Research Center’s Soluble Imide (LaRC-SI) was discovered by accident. While researching resins and adhesives for advanced...

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Spinoff: Health and Medicine
LED Device Illuminates New Path to Healing

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Among NASA’s research goals is increased understanding of factors affecting plant growth, including the effects of...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Water, essential to sustaining life on Earth, is that much more highly prized in the unforgiving realm of space travel and...

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Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Robotics Offer Newfound Surgical Capabilities

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Anyone who has ever worked on a car’s engine or tried to fix a sink knows the frustration of trying to perform precision work in a...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Developed by Dr. James Tilton, a computer engineer with Goddard Space Flight Center's Computational and Information Sciences and...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

How does life begin and evolve? Does life exist elsewhere in the universe? What is the future of life on Earth and beyond?

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

When the U.S. Congress created NASA in 1958, it sought to ensure that the Nation saw returns on its investments in aerospace...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Neuropsychology is the study of how the brain relates to behavior, emotion, and cognition. Clinical neuropsychologists...

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Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

For decades now, NASA has been sending spacecraft throughout the galaxy. Once in the cosmos, these crafts use advanced cameras to create...

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Spinoff: Health and Medicine
Circulation-Enhancing Device Improves CPR

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

Ever stand up too quickly from a sitting or lying position and feel dizzy or disoriented for a brief moment? The downward push of Earth's gravity...

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Spinoff: Health and Medicine
The Right Track for Vision Correction

More and more people are putting away their eye-glasses and contact lenses as a result of laser vision correction surgery. LASIK, the most widely performed version of this surgical procedure,...

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Spinoff: Health and Medicine
A Look From The Inside

Originating Technology/NASA Contribution

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has given the world amazing images of the distant stars, planets, and galaxies. The cutting-edge imaging technology that enhances the...

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