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Completed TRL 6 (started at 4, targeting 6)
This project is currently (1) developing a novel, ultra-small footprint VF device for use during expeditionary spaceflight (FY18-19), and in FY19 proposes to (2) complete clinical validations to ensure performance is comparable to large-scale COTS VF devices and (3) complete initial operational testing. This device is intended to detect, monitor progression, and guide medical intervention of severe SANS cases during long-duration missions, as well as detect neuro-ocular pathology near the battlefield, aboard U.S. Navy ships, and during humanitarian missions. It will transition into space and terrestrial usage in FY20-21.
Visual filed (VF) testing is a well-established, non-invasive technology used for decades by clinicians worldwide to assess and track the impact of pathology on visual function. The SANS Research & Clinical Advisory Panel (RCAP) unanimously recommended in 2017 that a VF device be deployed, most importantly because medical interventions for SANS (e.g., Diamox) can only be prescribed if treatment efficacy is concurrently monitored by VF testing, the clinical standard of care. Traditional VF devices are too large for deployment on expeditionary spacecraft, and no COTS goggle-based VF devices exist to fill this operational need. This device is intended to detect, monitor progression, and guide medical intervention of severe SANS cases during expeditionary missions. This NASA/TRISH/DoD cost sharing project is also important to the DoD since an ultra-small footprint VF testing device would be useful in diagnosing neuro-ocular injuries onboard Navy ships and near the battlefield, and in diagnosing neuro-ocular pathology during humanitarian missions in austere environments. This project is important to our corporate partners because of its potential applicability to immobile patients (e.g., home-bound or at nursing homes), traveling physicians, and humanitarian missions.
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