NASA researchers launch handheld LOCAD-PTS to be tested aboard the International Space Station

Imagine a huge laboratory filled with people and equipment shrinking to fit on a small chip — the size of a dime. Scientists on Earth use labs on chips for medical tests and other research. Marshall Center scientists are customizing these chips for use in space.

Overview In the future, how will astronauts be able to monitor levels of microorganisms in their spacecraft, to detect the presence of harmful chemicals, or to determine what is causing them to feel sick? To address these questions, scientists at Marshall Space Flight Center have harnessed a particularly useful technology – the ability to perform multiple biochemical tests on a single microchip. “Lab-on-a-chip” technology has been used by researchers on Earth for many years, but Marshall scientists and collaborators from across the country have begun adapting it for the unique challenges of spaceflight. The LOCAD-Portable Test System (PTS) is their first step toward meeting the need for a rugged, portable, rapid-result test system that can provide accurate, reproducible results without assistance from a laboratory on Earth.

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• Environmental Control Life Systems Support (Water/Air Quality and Microbial Monitoring)
  
  
• Medical Systems (Monitoring and Analyses of Blood, Urine, Saliva, Sweat, and Tears)
  
  
• Remote Exploration (Life Detection on Mars and Planetary Protection/Microbial Detection)

Lab-on-a-Chip technology is a promising analytical tool for providing solutions to some of NASA's most challenging exploration problems. Space travelers will require medical systems and environmental monitoring systems that are small,   easy-to-use,   portable, rugged, low cost, disposable, and that provide quick results. Lab-on-a-Chip technology, which combines microfluidics with fabrication techniques used by the semiconductor industry to produce "microchips," allows certain types of chemical and biological processes that were previously conducted in large laboratories to be performed on microchips the size of a dime. Samples of fluids are prepared and analyzed in fluid channels tiny glass plate called a microchip; the chips are then entered into a processor for analysis.

News Articles: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/news/releases/2004/04-156.html

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