Ambient Preservation of Clinical Analytes

The proposed research is in response to the In-flight Biological Sample Preservation and Analysis topic and offers a non-invasive, proven, space and cost and time effective approach to biological sample collection and preservation. Our proposal is to collect capillary whole blood from the fingertip in addition to urine samples, and to store these samples as dried spots on a custom wick-matrix. The process of sample collection is minimally invasive to non-invasive, and samples can be stored efficiently at ambient temperatures during space flight. A wide array of blood analytes can already be determined from these samples, but in addition, we propose to develop and validate further assays that meet the specific objectives of NASA, its scientists and clinicians.

The market potential for simple and reliable and low cost analyte capture and analysis for the diagnosis and prognosis of disease and overall physiological health are enormous. The potential exists for a markedly increasing advanced medical diagnostic testing in the developing world and rural regions worldwide. The resulting cost savings to healthcare can run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and offer a venue by which home health care can become more prevalent.

Some of the many NASA applications include the potential to monitor crew health on long duration space missions with an on-board analyzer, or to predict emerging crew health concerns through known biomarker identification. In addition, health histories of previous astronauts can be catalogued using actual dried biological samples, which can be referenced, and analyzed at a later date should a health issue later transpire.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — 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.