Briefs: Medical
Extreme Ionizing-Radiation-Resistant Bacterium
There is a growing concern that desiccation and extreme radiation-resistant, non-spore-forming microorganisms associated with spacecraft surfaces can withstand space environmental conditions and subsequent proliferation on another solar body. Such forward contamination would jeopardize future life...
Briefs: Medical
Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting of Live Versus Dead Bacterial Cells and Spores
This innovation is a coupled fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and fluorescent staining technology for purifying (removing cells from sampling matrices), separating (based on size, density, morphology, and live versus dead), and concentrating cells...
News: Robotics, Automation & Control
Exoskeletal Device Advances Study of Mobility in Spinal Cord Injury
Kessler Foundation has released preliminary research findings from its clinical study of the wearable robotic exoskeletal device, Ekso, made by Ekso Bionics. Ekso has been undergoing clinical investigation in patients with spinal cord injury at Kessler since October 2011, when...
News: Medical
Biocompatible Hydrogel May Replace Artificial Cartilage
A team of experts in mechanics, materials science, and tissue engineering at Harvard has created an extremely stretchy and tough gel that has potential as a replacement for damaged cartilage in human joints.
Briefs: Medical
Developing Physiologic Models for Emergency Medical Procedures Under Microgravity
Several technological enhancements have been made to METI’s commercial Emergency Care Simulator (ECS) with regard to how microgravity affects human physiology. The ECS uses both a software only lung simulation, and an integrated mannequin lung that uses a...
Briefs: Medical
Adaptation of a Filter Assembly to Assess Microbial Bioburden of Pressurant Within a Propulsion System
A report describes an adaptation of a filter assembly to enable it to be used to filter out microorganisms from a propulsion system. The filter assembly has previously been used for particulates >2 μm. Projects that utilize large volumes of...
Briefs: Test & Measurement
Beat-to-Beat Blood Pressure Monitor
This device provides non-invasive beat-to-beat blood pressure measurements and can be worn over the upper arm for prolonged durations. Phase and waveform analyses are performed on filtered proximal and distal photoplethysmographic (PPG) waveforms obtained from the brachial artery. The phase analysis is used...
Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition
Improving Balance Function Using Low Levels of Electrical Stimulation of the Balance Organs
Crewmembers returning from long duration space flight face significant challenges due to the microgravity induced inappropriate adaptations in balance/sensorimotor function. The Neuroscience Laboratory at JSC is developing a method based on stochastic...
Briefs: Imaging
Hands-Free Transcranial Color Doppler Probe
Current transcranial color Doppler (TCD) transducer probes are bulky and difficult to move in tiny increments to search and optimize TCD signals. This invention provides miniature motions of a TCD transducer probe to optimize TCD signals.
Briefs: Medical
Portable Intravenous Fluid Production Device for Ground Use
There are several medical conditions that require intravenous (IV) fluids. Limitations of mass, volume, storage space, shelf-life, transportation, and local resources can restrict the availability of such important fluids. These limitations are expected in long-duration space...
Briefs: Medical
PMA-Linked Fluorescence for Rapid Detection of Viable Bacterial Endospores
The most common approach for assessing the abundance of viable bacterial endospores is the culture-based plating method. However, culture-based approaches are heavily biased and oftentimes incompatible with upstream sample processing strategies, which make viable...
News: Robotics, Automation & Control
Researchers Engineer Light-Activated Skeletal Muscle
Scientists at MIT and the University of Pennsylvania are taking more than inspiration from nature — they’re taking ingredients. The group has genetically engineered muscle cells to flex in response to light, and is using the light-sensitive tissue to build highly articulated robots. This...
Briefs: Medical
The objective of this research was to design, build, and test an experimental apparatus for studying the parameters of atmospheric entry heating,...
Briefs: Medical
Saliva Preservative for Diagnostic Purposes
Saliva is an important body fluid for diagnostic purposes. Glycoproteins, glucose, steroids, DNA, and other molecules of diagnostic value are found in saliva. It is easier to collect as compared to blood or urine. Un for tunately, saliva also contains large numbers of bacteria that can release enzymes,...
Briefs: Medical
Virtual Ultrasound Guidance for Inexperienced Operators
Medical ultrasound or echocardiographic studies are highly operatordependent and generally require lengthy training and internship to perfect. To obtain quality echocardiographic images in remote environments, such as on-orbit, remote guidance of studies has been employed. This technique...
Briefs: Medical
Purifying, Separating, and Concentrating Cells From a Sample Low in Biomass
Frequently there is an inability to process and analyze samples of low biomass due to limiting amounts of relevant biomaterial in the sample. Furthermore, molecular biological protocols geared towards increasing the density of recovered cells and biomolecules of...
Briefs: Medical
Hardy Bacterium Isolated From Two Geographically Distinct Spacecraft Assembly Cleanroom Facilities
Earlier studies have confirmed that a tenacious hardy bacterial population manages to persist and survive throughout a spacecraft assembly process. The widespread detection of these organisms underscores the challenges in eliminating them...
Briefs: Medical
A nanovector multistage system has been created to overcome or bypass sequential barriers within the human body, in order to deliver a therapeutic or...
News: Medical
Researchers Create Human-Scale 3D Videoconferencing Pod
A Queen's University researcher has created a Star Trek-like human-scale 3D videoconferencing pod that allows people in different locations to video conference as if they are standing in front of each other.
Two people simply stand in front of their own life-size cylindrical pods and...
Briefs: Medical
Monitoring Location and Angular Orientation of a Pill
A mobile pill transmitter system moves through, or adjacent to, one or more organs in an animal or human body, while transmitting signals from its present location and/or present angular orientation. The system also provides signals from which the present roll angle of the pill, about a...
Briefs: Medical
Molecular Technique to Reduce PCR Bias for Deeper Understanding of Microbial Diversity
Current planetary protection policies require that spacecraft targeted to sensitive solar system bodies be assembled and readied for launch in controlled cleanroom environments. A better understanding of the distribution and frequency at which high-risk...
Briefs: Medical
Dramatic improvements have been made in NASA’s Whole Blood Staining Device (WBSD) since it was last described in “Whole-Blood- Staining Device,” (MSC-22614) NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 23, No. 10...
Application Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Johns Hopkins engineers, recognized as experts in medical robotics, are helping NASA with a space dilemma: How can the agency fix valuable satellites that are breaking...
Techs for License: Materials
Biodegradable Silica Gel Fiber Regenerates Cell Tissue
An inorganic, biodegradable silica gel fiber (SGF) acts as a physical scaffold to aid the growth of new cells and the collagen structure that supports them. As a scaffold, it can also be used to deliver drugs over a wide area to aid in healing. The material is integrated into the tissues and...
Briefs: Medical
The rHEALTH technology is designed to shrink an entire hospital testing laboratory onto a handheld device. A physician or healthcare provider performs the test by collecting a fingerstick of blood from a...
Briefs: Medical
Radiation Protection Using Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube Derivatives
This invention is a means of radiation protection, or cellular oxidative stress mitigation, via a sequence of quenching radical species using nano-engineered scaffolds, specifically single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and their derivatives. The material can be used as a means of...
Briefs: Medical
PMA-PhyloChip DNA Microarray To Elucidate Viable Microbial Community Structure
Since the Viking missions in the mid- 1970s, traditional culture-based methods have been used for microbial enumeration by various NASA programs. Viable microbes are of particular concern for spacecraft cleanliness, for forward contamination of extraterrestrial bodies...
Application Briefs: Medical
At various times throughout the manufacturing process, medical device and orthopaedic implant manufacturers need to carry out a wide range of inspections and measurements of the parts...
Question of the Week: Medical
Will we be able to design an "operating system" for a living biological cell?
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