NASA SBIR 2005 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc.
44 Hunt St
Watertown ,MA 02472 - 4699
(617) 926 - 1167

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Louis H. Strong, PhD
lstrong@rmdinc.com
44 Hunt St
Watertown, MA  02472 -4699
(617) 926 - 1167

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (LIMIT 200 WORDS)
RMD proposes to develop a MEMS based complete blood count (CBC) instrument that can be used aboard a spacecraft. We will produce a microfluidic scale combination cell counter-flow cytometer for CBC analyses that can be communicated to ground bases by telemetry. The blood analyzer will utilize innovative optical and fluidic designs on a modular platform that enable compactness, high sensitivity and cell discrimination, combined with robust service. No operator intervention is required. Modules that require direct contact with blood will be economical and disposable. These fluidic designs will be fabricated by microstereolithography and initially tested as two separate components. A first component will constitute a hydrodynamic focusing injector and cell impedance meter. A second component will monitor forward and side scattered light from hydrodynamically focused cells using novel signal collection designs and micrometer scale, Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes. New, custom formulated photopolymers will be evaluated for microstereolithography use and electroless deposition of metals will form the basis for fabricating microelectrodes. During Phase II, the cell impedance transducer and microoptic modules will be integrated into one credit card size package that plugs into a handheld microelectronics board containing detectors, pump, microprocessors, and an automated cell lysing stage.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
The ability to monitor physiological changes of astronauts during space flight requires portable, low power and light-weight instrumentation. Inexpensive, point of treatment instruments are needed to monitor astronauts health and to gauge the effectiveness of countermeasures to oppose deleterious physiological responses due to microgravity, exposure to ionizing radiation, and a reduced exercise regimen. A critical and time sensitive measurement for the assessment of hemostasis is the complete blood count (CBC). The MEMS-based blood analyzer will provide the same information as a CBC.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (LIMIT 150 WORDS)
A MEMS-based CBC analyzer will find many point-of-care applications where economy, speed, and minimal user intervention are required. Such uses include: blood hemoglobin and reticulocyte analysis for directing transfusion therapy in patients suffering major blood loss, monitoring anemia in surgical patients; screening platelets in patients with clotting disease; monitoring WBC in outpatients undergoing blood replacement therapy. The timing of apheresis collection of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) is critical for effective transplantation in cancer patients. A point-of-care CBC analyzer also benefits patients who must travel long distances daily to monitor their blood composition for information related to harvesting PBSCs.

NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING

Biochemical Biomedical and Life Support Biomolecular Sensors Earth-Supplied Resource Utilization Optical