Results for “space biosensors” — Page 5

NASA NTRS2000

Sensor Needs for Advanced Life Support

Sensors and feedback systems are critical to life support flight systems and life support systems research. New sensor capabilities can allow for new system architectures to be considered, and can facilitate dramatic improvements in system performance. This paper will describe three opportunities for biosensor researchers to develop sensors that will enable life support system improvements. The first opportunity relates to measuring physical, chemical, and biological parameters in the Space Station Water Processing System. Measuring pH, iodine, total organic carbon, microbiological activity, total dissolved solids, or conductivity with a safe, effective, stable, reliable microsensor could benefit the water processing system considerably. Of special interest is a sensor which can monitor biological contamination rapidly. The second opportunity relates to sensing microbiological contamination and water condensation on the surface of large inflatable structures. It is the goal of large inflatable structures used for habitation to take advantage of the large surface area of the structure and reject waste heat passively through the walls of the structure. Too much heat rejection leads to a cold spot with water condensation, and eventually microbiological contamination. A distributed sensor system that can measure temperature, humidity, and microbiological contamination across a large surface would benefit designers of large inflatable habitable structures. The third opportunity relates to sensing microbial bioreactors used for waste water processing and reuse. Microbiological bioreactors offer considerable advantages in weight and power compared to adsorption bed based systems when used for long periods of time. Managing and controlling bioreactors is greatly helped if distributed microsensors measured the biological populations continuously in many locations within the bioreactor. Nitrifying bacteria are of special interest to bioreactor designers, and any sensors that could measure the populations of these types of bacteria would help the control and operation of bioreactors. J

Graf, John C.↗

NASA NTRS2015

BioSentinel: Mission Development of a Radiation Biosensor to Gauge DNA Damage and Repair Beyond Low Earth Orbit on a 6U Nanosatellite

We are designing and developing a 6U (10 x 22 x 34 cm; 14 kg) nanosatellite as a secondary payload to fly aboard NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) Exploration Mission (EM) 1, scheduled for launch in late 2017. For the first time in over forty years, direct experimental data from biological studies beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) will be obtained during BioSentinels 12- to 18-month mission. BioSentinel will measure the damage and repair of DNA in a biological organism and allow us to compare that to information from onboard physical radiation sensors. In order to understand the relative contributions of the space environments two dominant biological perturbations, reduced gravity and ionizing radiation, results from deep space will be directly compared to data obtained in LEO (on ISS) and on Earth. These data points will be available for validation of existing biological radiation damage and repair models, and for extrapolation to humans, to assist in mitigating risks during future long-term exploration missions beyond LEO. The BioSentinel Payload occupies 4U of the spacecraft and will utilize the monocellular eukaryotic organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) to report DNA double-strand-break (DSB) events that result from ambient space radiation. DSB repair exhibits striking conservation of repair proteins from yeast to humans. Yeast was selected because of 1) its similarity to cells in higher organisms, 2) the well-established history of strains engineered to measure DSB repair, 3) its spaceflight heritage, and 4) the wealth of available ground and flight reference data. The S. cerevisiae flight strain will include engineered genetic defects to prevent growth and division until a radiation-induced DSB activates the yeasts DNA repair mechanisms. The triggered culture growth and metabolic activity directly indicate a DSB and its successful repair. The yeast will be carried in the dry state within the 1-atm PL container in 18 separate fluidics cards with each card having 16 independent culture microwells, with integral microchannels and filters to supply nutrients and reagents, confine the yeast to the wells, and enable optical measurement. The measurement subsystem will monitor each subgroup of culture wells continuously for several weeks, optically tracking DSB-triggered cell growth and metabolism. BioSentinel will also include physical radiation sensors based on the TimePix sensor, as implemented by JSCs RadWorks group, which record individual radiation events including estimates of their linear-energy-transfer (LET) values. Radiation-dose and LET data will be compared directly to the rate of DSB-and-repair events measured by the S. cerevisiae biosentinels.

Radiation Biosensor↗

NASA NTRS2018

Nanobiotechnology in Space Applications

A sensor platform based on vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (CNFs) has been developed. Their inherent nanometer scale, high conductivity, wide potential window, good biocompatibility and well-defined surface chemistry make them ideal candidates as biosensor electrodes. Here, we report two studies using vertically aligned CNF nanoelectrodes for biomedical applications. CNF arrays are investigated as neural stimulation and neurotransmitter recording electrodes for application in deep brain stimulation (DBS). Polypyrrole coated CNF nanoelectrodes have shown great promise as stimulating electrodes due to their large surface area, low impedance, biocompatibility and capacity for highly localized stimulation. CNFs embedded in SiO2 have been used as sensing electrodes for neurotransmitter detection. Our approach combines a multiplexed CNF electrode chip, developed at NASA Ames Research Center, with the Wireless Instantaneous Neurotransmitter Concentration Sensor (WINCS) system, developed at the Mayo Clinic. Preliminary results indicate that the CNF nanoelectrode arrays are easily integrated with WINCS for neurotransmitter detection in a multiplexed array format. In the future, combining CNF based stimulating and recording electrodes with WINCS may lay the foundation for an implantable "smart" therapeutic system that utilizes neurochemical feedback control while likely resulting in increased DBS application in various neuropsychiatric disorders. In total, our goal is to take advantage of the nanostructure of CNF arrays for biosensing studies requiring ultrahigh sensitivity, high-degree of miniaturization, and selective biofunctionalization.

Koehne, Jessica E.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Carbon Nanostructures in Biological Sensors for Space and Terrestrial Applications

Biosensing devices comprised of carbon nanotubes and nanofibers have been developed for astronaut crew point-of-care. Their inherent nanometer scale, high conductivity, wide potential window, good biocompatibility and well-defined surface chemistry make them ideal candidates as biosensor electrodes. Here, we report two studies using carbon nanotube and carbon nanofiber electrodes for biomedical applications. First, a 3x3 electrode device, with each electrode containing 40,000 carbon nanofiber nanoelectrodes was fabricated on silicon using traditional microfabrication processing. The device was demonstrated as a multiplexed immunosensor for simultaneous, label-free detection of cardiac troponin-I, C-reactive protein and myoglobin. Antibodies specific to cardiac troponin-I, C-reactive protein and myoglobin were covalently bound to the CNF surface and were characterized using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and differential pulse voltammetry. Each step of the modification process resulted in changes in resistance to charge transfer due to the changes at the electrode surface upon antibody immobilization and binding to the specific cardiac protein. The real-time label free detection of the three cardiac markers from pure components and mixtures was demonstrated with high sensitivity, down to 0.2 ng/mL, and good selectivity. Detection in human blood serum did not present false positives from non-specific protein adsorption. More recently, this detection scheme has been applied to inkjet printed carbon nanotube electrodes on Kapton and paper. Printed devices have several unique advantages including simple and inexpensive fabrication. The results demonstrate that these sensors can serve a miniaturized, low cost device for detection of proteins in complex mixtures making this platform a good candidate for early stage diagnosis of myocardial infarction. Future inkjet printed devices can be fabricated have the added advantage in their suitability to be manufactured in an in-space, microgravity environment.

carbon nanotubes↗

NASA NTRS2004

Microfluidic Biochip Design

As humans prepare for the exploration of our solar system, there is a growing need for miniaturized medical and environmental diagnostic devices for use on spacecrafts, especially during long-duration space missions where size and power requirements are critical. In recent years, the biochip (or Lab-on-a-Chip) has emerged as a technology that might be able to satisfy this need. In generic terms, a biochip is a miniaturized microfluidic device analogous to the electronic microchip that ushered in the digital age. It consists of tiny microfluidic channels, pumps and valves that transport small amounts of sample fluids to biosensors that can perform a variety of tests on those fluids in near real time. It has the obvious advantages of being small, lightweight, requiring less sample fluids and reagents and being more sensitive and efficient than larger devices currently in use. Some of the desired space-based applications would be to provide smaller, more robust devices for analyzing blood, saliva and urine and for testing water and food supplies for the presence of harmful contaminants and microorganisms. Our group has undertaken the goal of adapting as well as improving upon current biochip technology for use in long-duration microgravity environments.

Panzarella, Charles↗

NASA NTRS2004

Microfluidic Biochip Design

As humans prepare for the exploration of our solar system, there is a growing need for miniaturized medical and environmental diagnostic devices for use on spacecrafts, especially during long-duration space missions where size and power requirements are critical. In recent years, the biochip (or Lab-on-a- Chip) has emerged as a technology that might be able to satisfy this need. In generic terms, a biochip is a miniaturized microfluidic device analogous to the electronic microchip that ushered in the digital age. It consists of tiny microfluidic channels, pumps and valves that transport small amounts of sample fluids to biosensors that can perform a variety of tests on those fluids in near real time. It has the obvious advantages of being small, lightweight, requiring less sample fluids and reagents and being more sensitive and efficient than larger devices currently in use. Some of the desired space-based applications would be to provide smaller, more robust devices for analyzing blood, saliva and urine and for testing water and food supplies for the presence of harmful contaminants and microorganisms. Our group has undertaken the goal of adapting as well as improving upon current biochip technology for use in long-duration microgravity environments. In addition to developing computational models of the microfluidic channels, valves and pumps that form the basis of every biochip, we are also trying to identify potential problems that could arise in reduced gravity and develop solutions to these problems. One such problem is due to the prevalence of bubbly sample fluids in microgravity. A bubble trapped in a microfluidic channel could be detrimental to the operation of a biochip. Therefore, the process of bubble formation in microgravity needs to be studied, and a model of this process has been developed and used to understand how bubbles develop and move through biochip components. It is clear that some type of bubble filter would be necessary in Space, and several bubble filter designs are being evaluated.

Panzarella, Charles↗

NASA NTRS1997

Director's Discretionary Fund Report for Fiscal Year 1996

Topics covered include: Waterproofing the Space Shuttle tiles, thermal protection system for Reusable Launch Vehicles, computer modeling of the thermal conductivity of cometary ice, effects of ozone depletion and ultraviolet radiation on plants, a novel telemetric biosensor to monitor blood pH on-line, ion mobility in polymer electrolytes for lithium-polymer batteries, a microwave-pumped far infrared photoconductor, and a new method for measuring cloud liquid vapor using near infrared remote sensing. Also included: laser-spectroscopic instrument for turbulence measurement, remote sensing of aircraft contrails using a field portable imaging interferometer, development of a silicon-micromachined gas chromatography system for determination of planetary surface composition, planar Doppler velocimetry, chaos in interstellar chemistry, and a limited pressure cycle engine for high-speed output.

Source record↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA SmallSat LEARN Forum Briefing: BioSentinel

We will focus on the technologies developed for BioSentinel, primarily the science payloads. One of them, the BioSensor, is a microfluidics-based instrument that houses a series of fluidic cards and manifolds. The fluidic cards can be loaded with microbial organisms to study the effect of the space environment on biology. For BioSentinel, we used the budding yeast as our model organism to study the response to the radiation environment in both low Earth orbit (ISS) and in deep space. The second instrument is a radiation spectrometer. This sensor allows the quantification of ionizing radiation as well as the characterization of the different particles based on the linear energy transfer or LET. Given that BioSentinel launched this past November (Artemis I), part of the presentation will include lessons learned and how we will apply them to future missions, including LEIA. LEIA was recently selected for a mission to the lunar surface on a CLPS lander vehicle, and is primarily based at NASA Ames.

BioSentinel↗

NASA NTRS2015

Evaluation of the Accuracy of Astroskin as a Behavioral Health Self-Monitoring System for Spaceflight

In space, there is a need to monitor astronauts' vital signs and assess their readiness to perform specific tasks during a mission. Currently, NASA does not have the capability to noninvasively monitor crew for extended periods of time. The Canadian Space Agency is working with the Psychophysiology Lab at NASA ARC to determine if the Astroskin could be used as a solution to this problem. Astroskin, a commercially available garment with built-in biosensors, can be comfortably worn under clothing or a spacesuit and relay information to the crewman's own mobile device. Data can also be sent wirelessly to the on-board Exploration Medical System. To determine if Astroskin meets requirements for health monitoring, it must first be validated in spaceflight analog environments. In the current study Astroskin data will be compared to traditional biomedical instrument measures of electrocardiography (ECG), respiration rate, and systolic blood pressure. The data will be recorded during Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE), which is a type of physiological self-regulation training designed for astronauts. The data will also be recorded during simulations of the Orion spacecraft re-entry. The results to date suggest that Astroskin is a suitable ambulatory monitoring system that allows astronauts to self-diagnose and self-regulate adverse autonomic nervous system responses to sustained exposure to microgravity of spaceflight.

biomedical↗

DOE OSTI2021

Integrating continuous hypermutation with high–throughput screening for optimization of cis,cis –muconic acid production in yeast

Directed evolution is a powerful method to optimize proteins and metabolic reactions towards user-defined goals. It usually involves subjecting genes or pathways to iterative rounds of mutagenesis, selection and amplification. While powerful, systematic searches through large sequence-spaces is a labour-intensive task, and can be further limited by a priori knowledge about the optimal initial search space, and/or limits in terms of screening throughput. Here, we demonstrate an integrated directed evolution workflow for metabolic pathway enzymes that continuously generate enzyme variants using the recently developed orthogonal replication system, OrthoRep and screens for optimal performance in high-throughput using a transcription factor-based biosensor. We demonstrate the strengths of this workflow by evolving a rate-limiting enzymatic reaction of the biosynthetic pathway for cis,cis-muconic acid (CCM), a precursor used for bioplastic and coatings, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. After two weeks of simply iterating between passaging of cells to generate variant enzymes via OrthoRep and high-throughput sorting of best-performing variants using a transcription factor-based biosensor for CCM, we ultimately identified variant enzymes improving CCM titers > 13-fold compared with reference enzymes. Taken together, the combination of synthetic biology tools as adopted in this study is an efficient approach to debottleneck repetitive workflows associated with directed evolution of metabolic enzymes.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

LEIA: An Investigation of Radiation Risks to Biology at the Lunar South Pole

Radiation and reduced gravity pose biological risks to crewed deep space exploration. At the cellular level, radiation damage can be amplified by reduced gravity. Empirical evidence on cellular responses to beyond low Earth orbit (BLEO) environments is imperative to develop effective countermeasures for crew health and in-space biomanufacturing. The Lunar Explorer Instrument for Space Biology Applications (LEIA) project is developing an instrument suite to be delivered to the south polar region of the Moon by the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. This presentation will provide an overview of the LEIA hardware, experiments, and mission timeline. The LEIA instruments include the BioSensor, the ARES charged particle detector, and the Mini-FND. The BioSensor is an autonomous light emitting diode (LED)-based spectrophotometer and microfluidic incubator. The BioSensor activates yeast cultures and can measure cell growth, metabolic activity, and carotenoid production. The ARES is a Timepix-based charged particle radiation detector that measures dose, dose rate, and linear energy transfer spectra. The Mini-FND is a fast neutron detector that measures albedo neutron flux and energy spectra. Combined, these instruments will be used for yeast genetics experiments to quantify growth, metabolism, and synthetic biology-enabled production of human nutrients, while taking real time measurements of biologically relevant radiation exposure on the lunar surface. These data will be used to test the importance of selected DNA damage repair and reactive oxygen species defense pathways in mitigating cellular damage from lunar surface radiation.

Yeast↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

LEIA: An Investigation of Radiation Risks to Biology at the Lunar South Pole

Radiation and reduced gravity pose biological risks to crewed deep space exploration. At the cellular level, radiation damage can be amplified by reduced gravity. Empirical evidence on cellular responses to beyond low Earth orbit (BLEO) environments is imperative to develop effective countermeasures for crew health and in-space biomanufacturing. The Lunar Explorer Instrument for Space Biology Applications (LEIA) project is developing an instrument suite to be delivered to the south polar region of the Moon by the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. This presentation will provide an overview of the LEIA hardware, experiments, and mission timeline. The LEIA instruments include the BioSensor, the ARES charged particle detector, and the Mini-FND. The BioSensor is an autonomous light emitting diode (LED)-based spectrophotometer and microfluidic incubator. The BioSensor activates yeast cultures and can measure cell growth, metabolic activity, and carotenoid production. The ARES is a Timepix-based charged particle radiation detector that measures dose, dose rate, and linear energy transfer spectra. The Mini-FND is a fast neutron detector that measures albedo neutron flux and energy spectra. Combined, these instruments will be used for yeast genetics experiments to quantify growth, metabolism, and synthetic biology-enabled production of human nutrients, while taking real time measurements of biologically relevant radiation exposure on the lunar surface. These data will be used to test the importance of selected DNA damage repair and reactive oxygen species defense pathways in mitigating cellular damage from lunar surface radiation.

Yeast↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

BioSentinel: Mission Summary and Lessons Learned From the First Deep Space Biology CubeSat Mission

Launched on Artemis-1, BioSentinel carries a biology experiment into deep space for the first time in 50 years. A 6U CubeSat form factor was utilized for the spacecraft which included technologies newly developed or adapted for operations beyond Earth orbit. The spacecraft carries onboard budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as an analog to human cells to test the biological response to deep space radiation. This was the maiden deep-space voyage for many of the subsystems, and the first time to evaluate their performance in flight operation. Flying a CubeSat beyond LEO comes with unique challenges with respect to trajectory uncertainty and mission operations planning. The nominal plan was a lunar fly-by, followed by an insertion into Heliocentric orbit. However, some possible scenarios included lunar eclipses that could have severely impacted the power budget during that phase of the mission, while others could have resulted in a “Retrograde” hyperbola at swing-by resulting in the spacecraft traveling inward toward Earth or even towards a collision with the lunar surface. The commissioning phase of the mission was successful and completed a week ahead of schedule. It did not come without its exciting moments and challenges. First contact with the spacecraft uncovered that the vehicle was unexpectedly tumbling after deployment, a situation that needed to be corrected urgently. The mission operations team executed a contingency plan to stabilize the spacecraft, with just moments to spare before the battery ran out of power. The BioSensor payload onboard the spacecraft is a complex instrument that includes microfluidics, fluid systems, sensor control electronics, as well at the living yeast cells. BioSentinel also included a TimePix radiation sensor implemented by JSC’s RadWorks group. Dose and Linear Energy Transfer (LET) data is compared directly to the rate of DSB-and repair events measured by the S. cerevisiae cells. BioSentinel mature nanosatellite technologies included: deep space communications and navigation, autonomous attitude control and momentum management, and micro-propulsion systems, to provide an adaptable nanosatellite platform for deep space uses. This paper discusses the performance of the BioSentinel spacecraft through the mission phase, and includes lessons learned from challenges and anomalies. BioSentinel had many successes and will be a pathfinder for future deep space CubeSats and biology missions.

BioSentinel↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Biosentinel: Mission Summary and Lessons Learned From the First Deep Space Biology CubeSat Mission

Launched on Artemis-1, BioSentinel carries a biology experiment into deep space for the first time in 50 years. A 6U CubeSat form factor was utilized for the spacecraft which included technologies newly developed or adapted for operations beyond Earth orbit. The spacecraft carries onboard budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as an analog to human cells to test the biological response to deep space radiation. This was the maiden deep-space voyage for many of the subsystems, and the first time to evaluate their performance in flight operation. Flying a CubeSat beyond LEO comes with unique challenges with respect to trajectory uncertainty and mission operations planning. The nominal plan was a lunar fly-by, followed by an insertion into Heliocentric orbit. However, some possible scenarios included lunar eclipses that could have severely impacted the power budget during that phase of the mission, while others could have resulted in a “Retrograde” hyperbola at swing-by resulting in the spacecraft traveling inward toward Earth or even towards a collision with the lunar surface. The commissioning phase of the mission was successful and completed a week ahead of schedule. It did not come without its exciting moments and challenges. First contact with the spacecraft uncovered that the vehicle was unexpectedly tumbling after deployment, a situation that needed to be corrected urgently. The mission operations team executed a contingency plan to stabilize the spacecraft, with just moments to spare before the battery ran out of power. The BioSensor payload onboard the spacecraft is a complex instrument that includes microfluidics, fluid systems, sensor control electronics, as well at the living yeast cells. BioSentinel also included a TimePix radiation sensor implemented by JSC’s RadWorks group. Dose and Linear Energy Transfer (LET) data is compared directly to the rate of DSB-and repair events measured by the S. cerevisiae cells. BioSentinel mature nanosatellite technologies included: deep space communications and navigation, autonomous attitude control and momentum management, and micro-propulsion systems, to provide an adaptable nanosatellite platform for deep space uses. This paper discusses the performance of the BioSentinel spacecraft through the mission phase, and includes lessons learned from challenges and anomalies. BioSentinel had many successes and will be a pathfinder for future deep space CubeSats and biology missions.

BioSentinel↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Biosentinel: The First Deep Space Biology CubeSat Mission- Mission Summary and Lessons Learned

Launched on Artemis-1, BioSentinel carries a biology experiment into deep space for the first time in 50 years. A 6U CubeSat form factor was utilized for the spacecraft which included technologies newly developed or adapted for operations beyond Earth orbit. The spacecraft carries onboard budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as an analog to human cells to test the biological response to deep space radiation. This was the maiden deep-space voyage for many of the subsystems, and the first time to evaluate their performance in flight operation. Flying a CubeSat beyond LEO comes with unique challenges with respect to trajectory uncertainty and mission operations planning. The nominal plan was a lunar fly-by, followed by an insertion into Heliocentric orbit. However, some possible scenarios included lunar eclipses that could have severely impacted the power budget during that phase of the mission, while others could have resulted in a “Retrograde” hyperbola at swing-by resulting in the spacecraft traveling inward toward Earth or even towards a collision with the lunar surface. The commissioning phase of the mission was successful and completed a week ahead of schedule. It did not come without its exciting moments and challenges. First contact with the spacecraft uncovered that the vehicle was unexpectedly tumbling after deployment, a situation that needed to be corrected urgently. The mission operations team executed a contingency plan to stabilize the spacecraft, with just moments to spare before the battery ran out of power. The BioSensor payload onboard the spacecraft is a complex instrument that includes microfluidics, fluid systems, sensor control electronics, as well at the living yeast cells. BioSentinel also included a TimePix radiation sensor implemented by JSC’s RadWorks group. Dose and Linear Energy Transfer (LET) data is compared directly to the rate of DSB-and repair events measured by the S. cerevisiae cells. BioSentinel mature nanosatellite technologies included: deep space communications and navigation, autonomous attitude control and momentum management, and micro-propulsion systems, to provide an adaptable nanosatellite platform for deep space uses. This paper discusses the performance of the BioSentinel spacecraft through the mission phase, and includes lessons learned from challenges and anomalies. BioSentinel had many successes and will be a pathfinder for future deep space CubeSats and biology missions.

BioSentinel↗

NASA NTRS2004

Phosphate binding protein as the biorecognition element in a biosensor for phosphate

This work explores the potential use of a member of the periplasmic family of binding proteins, the phosphate binding protein (PBP), as the biorecognition element in a sensing scheme for the detection of inorganic phosphate (Pi). The selectivity of this protein originates from its natural role which, in Escherichia coli, is to serve as the initial receptor for the highly specific translocation of Pi to the cytoplasm. The single polypeptide chain of PBP is folded into two similar domains connected by three short peptide linkages that serve as a hinge. The Pi binding site is located deep within the cleft between the two domains. In the presence of the ligand, the two globular domains engulf the former in a hinge-like manner. The resultant conformational change constitutes the basis of the sensor development. A mutant of PBP (MPBP), where an alanine was replaced by a cysteine residue, was prepared by site-directed mutagenesis using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The mutant was expressed, from plasmid pSD501, in the periplasmic space of E. coli and purified in a single chromatographic step on a perfusion anion-exchange column. Site-specific labeling was achieved by attaching the fluorophore, N-[2-(1-maleimidyl)ethyl]-7-(diethylamino)coumarin-3-carboxamide (MDCC), to the protein through the sulfhydryl group of the cysteine moiety. Steady-state fluorescence studies of the MPBP-MDCC conjugate showed a change in the intensity of the signal upon addition of Pi. Calibration curves for Pi were constructed by relating the intensity of the fluorescence signal with the amount of analyte present in the sample. The sensing system was first developed and optimized on a spectrofluorometer using ml volumes of sample. It was then adapted to be used on a microtiter plate arrangement with microliter sample volumes. The system's versatility was finally proven by developing a fiber optic fluorescence-based sensor for monitoring Pi. In all three cases the detection limits for the analyte were in the sub-microMolar range. It was also demonstrated that the sensing system was selective for phosphate over other structurally-similar anions, paving the way for the design and development of a new family of biosensors utilizing the specific binding properties of periplasmic proteins. c2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

NASA Program Fundamental Space Biology↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Microbial Vessel for Impedance Spectroscopy and Electrochemistry (Mvise): an Extensible, Interoperable Data Acquisition Platform for Liquid Culture Studies in Space Biology Research

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has declared 2023 to be the Year of Open Science following an initiative to democratize scientific knowledge. Simultaneously, new sensor technologies have broadened the experimental space available to bioastronautics research. With these open-science goals and technological advances in mind, we have designed and constructed a data acquisition platform for high-precision, real-time monitoring of liquid culture systems. The vessel rig is fitted with six Atlas Scientific probes (micro pH, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, oxidation-reduction potential, liquid temperature, air CO2) and a custom optical density probe similar to the one on BioSentinel’s BioSensor payload. A custom dielectric spectroscopy probe is also planned. The structure of the vessel is resin 3-D printed on a hobbyist-level machine, reducing the production cost and iteration time by over 60% each while increasing extensibility. Data acquisition and storage is controlled with a standalone C state machine-based program running on a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B. When not running headless, an additional program automatically generates and updates plots for live data visualization. Validation of the rig as a data collection system was performed with a yeast liquid culture experiment. While the vessel rig is currently used for standalone experiments, it can also be used as the base perception unit in a self-driving laboratory (SDL). SDLs are high-throughput data collection systems that employ automation and artificial intelligence to conduct and manage routine experiments. Here, we envision an SDL driven by several vessel rigs in which an automated script compares key results, informing the design of future experiments. A vessel rig SDL would streamline many operations, including 1) strain selection for the Lunar Explorer Instrument for space biology Applications (LEIA) investigation and 2) the study of bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS). Ultimately, the datasets that can now be acquired will provide crucial information for accelerating bioastronautics application development in the era of commercial space.

Stephen Lantin↗

NASA NTRS2017

Medical Data Architecture Capabilities and Design

Mission constraints will challenge the delivery of medical care on a long-term, deep space explorationmission. This type of mission will be restricted in the availability of medical knowledge, skills, procedures and resourcesto prevent, diagnose, and treat in-flight medical events. Challenges to providing medical care are anticipated, includingresource and resupply constraints, delayed communications and no ability for medical evacuation. The Medical DataArchitecture (MDA) project will enable medical care capability in this constrained environment.The first version of thesystem, called Test Bed 1, includes capabilities for automated data collection, data storage and data retrieval to provideinformation to the Crew Medical Officer (CMO). Test Bed 1 seeks to establish a data architecture foundation and developa scalable data management system through modular design and standardized interfaces. In addition, it will demonstrateto stakeholders the potential for an improved, automated, flow of data to and from the medical system over the currentmethods employed on the International Space Station (ISS). It integrates a set of external devices, software andprocesses, and a Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan (SOAP) note commonly used by clinicians. Medical datalike electrocardiogram plots, heart rate, skin temperature, respiration rate, medications taken, and more are collectedfrom devices and stored in the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system, and reported to crew and clinician. Devicesintegrated include the Astroskin biosensor vest and IMED CARDIAX electrocardiogram (ECG) device with INEED MDECG Glove, and the NASA-developed Medical Dose Tracker application.The system is designed to be operated as astandalone system, and can be deployed in a variety of environments, from a laptop to a data center. The system isprimarily composed of open-source software tools, and is designed to be modular, so new capabilities can be added. Thesoftware components and integration methods will be discussed.

Exploration medical system↗