In the future, how will astronauts be able to monitor levels of microorganisms in their spacecraft, detect the presence of harmful chemicals, or determine what is causing them to feel sick? Answering these questions today would require a laboratory full of equipment and people working many days. However, scientists and engineers on the Lab-On-a-Chip Applications Development (LOCAD) team have harnessed a particularly useful technology – the ability to perform one or more biochemical tests on a single microchip. Imagine that huge laboratory filled with people and equipment shrinking to fit on a small chip, the size of an Apple iPod Nano.
This “lab-on-a-chip” technology flows fluids taken from the environment through small channels in a glass or plastic chip or cartridge. The fluids react with coatings on the wall or surface of the chip/cartridge. The reaction produces fluorescent light or color. If a color is generated, as in the LOCAD PTS, then the amount of light from another source that passes through the color indicates the concentration of the microbial, viral or chemical content in the sample from the environment. Miniaturization not only reduces mass, making the test more portable, but it also speeds things up.
Lab-on-a-chip technology has been used by researchers on Earth for many years for medical tests and experiments. However, the LOCAD team has begun adapting these chips for the unique challenges of space flight. The LOCAD-Portable Test System (PTS) is their first step toward meeting the need for a portable, rapid-result system that can provide accurate, reproducible results without assistance from a laboratory on Earth.
Multiple technologies are currently in use or being developed. These technologies will enable many benefits to be realized for the space program.
Now that a little of the “what” LOCAD is about has been discussed, the next question could be “Why use LOCAD?” |
