Flight Testing of a Microfluidic Biochemical Analysis Lab-on-a-Chip

Flight Testing of a Microfluidic Biochemical Analysis Lab-on-a-Chipwill assess the ability of a programmable microfluidic analyzer to facilitate chemical and biochemical fluid processes autonomously in microgravity. This technology couldenable biosignature detection and clinical assays in space. Three parabolic flights will test the robustness of the system’s ability to perform clinical assays that could be crucial for human health in space.The lab-on-a-chipcould also be used for sample analysis, especially ininvestigations for signs of waterand other life.

Problem Statement 
Monitoring astronaut health in space and making appropriate interventions is crucial for long-duration human space exploration. Earth-based clinical analysis typically involves large labs and equipment not conducive to flight. There is, therefore, a need for the development of autonomous, miniaturized biochemical analyzers that are suitable for space flight. Such an analyzer could also be used for environmental testing.

Technology Maturation 
This demonstration will advance the technology’s environmental testing capabilities and reduce the risk of using the device for analysis on icy moons. It will also establish the feasibility of developing microfluidic systems for clinical health monitoring in space. Specifically, parabolic flight tests will first assess the device’s basic microfluidic functions. A second round of flights will perform more complex chemical and biochemical assays. The systemis expected to advance to TRL 6.

Summary of Flight Test
2022-05-09 The Berkeley MOA instrument is the first programmable integrated microfluidic processing and detection device to be tested in zero-g. Designed to be capable of running bioassays in extraterrestrial conditions such as microgravity, low-earth orbit, and lunar Gateway, or lunar or Martian surface to support human exploration. This flight demonstrated that our microfluidic apparatus performs well in variable and zero-g load situations and is thus well suited for the search for extraterrestrial biosignatures at the icy moons of Saturn and Jupiter. This flight taught us that the transition of a lab-based prototype instrument to a flight instrument and its automated operation in a flight environment is a very challenging transition. Thus, this successful experiment is an important step advancing the flight technology readiness of our instrument.
2022-11-15 “The integrated microfluidic organic analyzer developed at Berkeley and at the University of Utah successfully performed both mock crew health assays and search for extra-terrestrial life experiments over multiple challenging zero and hyper gravity flights.” “This Zero G flight demonstrates the autonomous operation capabilities of the system as well as the utility of microfluidics in varied gravity conditions. With small footprint and power requirements, our system can autonomously perform complex and impactful analyses, even in the rapidly changing environment of parabolic flights. These capabilities are critical and necessary for the next generation of high performance planetary exploration instruments.”

This technology is a significant advancement in space-based chemical analysis. The programmable microfluidic analyzer’s autonomous performance could reduce crew workload. Additionally, its ability to execute both biosignature detection as well as clinical assays in one device This would benefit NASA missions and the commercial space industry.

Future Customers

Planned for infusion in two maturing instruments:
- Enceladus organic analyzer (NASA’s Maturation of Instruments for Solar System Exploration)
- Microfluidic organic analyzer for biosignatures (NASA’s Instrument Concepts for Europa Exploration)

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 6) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.