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Overview

NASA’s Exploration Medical Integrated Product Team (XMIPT) seeks compact, point-of-care technologies that could be used for medical diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of medical conditions based on clinical lab analysis of biological samples (for example, blood and urine).

Background

NASA has identified point-of-care medical diagnostic technology as a critical need for future human space exploration to enable diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of spaceflight medical conditions. Typically, lab technology in a terrestrial clinical lab relies on large, heavy equipment that requires many different chemical reagents or consumables. Future deep-space exploration missions will entail unprecedented and complex challenges including limitations in mass, volume, power, and consumables, and an inability to return biological samples back to Earth for analysis. An in-situ low mass/volume/power lab analysis capability will enable astronauts on extended duration missions to diagnose, monitor, and treat spaceflight medical conditions.

Requirements

  • Devices should measure multiple analytes.
    • Blood analytes of interest include but are not limited to:
      • Basic metabolic panel: glucose, sodium, potassium, bicarbonate,
        creatinine, BUN, calcium, chloride
      • Hematology (CBC + differential): WBC, HCT, HGB, neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil
      • Blood gases
      • Cardiac: Troponin I or T, CK
      • Liver and Renal: AST, ALT, ALP, bilirubin
      • Others of interest: lactate, thyroid (TSH, T3/T4), lipase, amylase PT/PTT clotting, and C-Reactive Protein
    • Devices should require small samples for analysis, e.g., finger prick, drop of blood.
    • Development stage of at least prototype or proof-of-concept

 

Desired outcome of the solution

Ideally an off-the-shelf solution will be available. Alternatively, NASA is open to partnerships to develop and manufacture a solution

 

Related Tech Needs:

 

 

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

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