The DNA Medicine Institute (DMI) has successfully completed the reduced gravity tests on the rHEALTH sensor in September 2010. The sensor would be used in the NASA Facilitated Access to the Space Environment for Technology (FAST) program.
Following that experiment, NASA has awarded a $190,000 Two Phase III SBIR contract to DMI to study the data from the parabolic flights.
Eugene Y. Chan, the Chief Scientific Officer at DMI, stated that the reduced gravity experiments have produced significant data which would help DMI to develop the rHEALTH sensor to be used as a universal biomedical laboratory in upcoming space environments.
DMI‘s past successful work conducted under a couple of contracts in the Phase II SBIR Program for developing nanoscale diagnostic technologies, which allowed complete health analysis from a single drop of blood, has been approved by NASA as a feasible and practical approach for performing urine and blood analysis on the International Space Station. Instead of depending on ground-based analysis, NASA is promoting the development and advancement of the rHEALTH sensor to deliver on-orbit abilities. This device would have a great impact on all biomedical research, which would be carried out on ISS, and would also play a vital role in environmental and medical monitoring.
One more contract, the Universal In-Flight Health Diagnostic Technology worth $420,000, was granted to DMI to conduct clinical validation on white blood cells. This contract’s aim is to develop the means for validating the white blood cell counts taken from human blood samples against a known and recognized medical standard. The NASA Human Health and Countermeasures (HHC) would be funding the award and would be managed by the NASA Glenn Research Center.
The rHEALTH sensor could also be used as real time health monitoring tool at a doctor’s office or at the bedside of a patient, permitting vital clinical interventions in acute circumstances and hence has significant dual-use terrestrial applications.
Source: http://www.dnamedinstitute.com