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Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 3)
Ensuring long-term physical health of astronauts is essential to maintain optimal performance throughout the mission. Thus, technologies to screen, diagnose, and treat medical conditions in space are of critical importance. These devices should: (a) have reduced resource and logistical needs, (b) be reusable, autonomous, accurate, and have low size, weight, and power requirements, and(c) provide real-time feedback to the crew. Some of the most significant physiological changes that occur in space are muscle atrophy, bone loss, and shifts in body fluid distribution. A wearable, autonomous device that offers monitoring of these parameters has yet to be reported and could prove to be revolutionary for future long-term space missions. In a giant leap forward, we propose REFORM (REconfigurable antennas FOR wearable space Medical diagnostics), a wearable sensing platform that leverages advances in into-body antennas, reconfigurable wearables, multi-utility sensing, flexible materials, conductive e-textiles, and cognitive hardware. The proposed multi-utility sensor consists of conformal antennas embedded into fabric and is envisioned to be worn by astronauts before, during, and after space missions to monitor muscle atrophy, bone loss, and body fluid distribution. Key to the sensor’s operation is a new class of antennas that reconfigure between four modes of operation, hence allowing for independent monitoring of the target physiological parameters with improved accuracy. Flexible materials and conductive e-textiles will enhance wearability, and integration of cognitive hardware will offer smart, autonomous operation and ease-of-use. Preliminary efforts have displayed novel designs of into-body antennas that surpass the state-of-the-art efficiency boundaries and have demonstrated the feasibility to independently monitor muscle atrophy, bone loss, and body fluid distribution. Once developed, the proposed autonomous, reconfigurable, wearable, and multi-purpose technology can empower space medical diagnostics in ways not possible before.
Once developed, the proposed autonomous, reconfigurable, wearable, and multi-purpose technology can empower space medical diagnostics in ways not possible before.
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