Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2024 - 19

Portable Science Enclosure Features Unique Innovations
Provides a compact enclosure system enhanced by novel seal and through-port innovations.
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
I
nnovators at NASA Johnson Space Center
have designed a science enclosure
system for science experiments conducted
aboard the International Space Station
(ISS). It allows users the ability to
safely manipulate objects of study within
the transparent enclosure by utilizing
protective boundary layer innovations
whose designs may be transferable to
other containment systems. The science
enclosure system can support experiments
that would require Biosafety Level
(BSL) 2 containment.
The enclosure employs a ventilation system
that provides laminar flow throughout
its interior with low electrical draw. It
has a compact, low-profile, rectangular
design that allows it to be easily stowed
and transported. It features glove ports
that interface with novel fasteners to facilitate
the simple attachment of glove and
seal assemblies or pass-through ports.
In the development of this technology
for the ISS, engineers had to pay careful
attention to electrical draw efficiency,
ease-of-use, mass reduction, production
cost, and safety, as conducting scientific
research under spacecraft stressors is an
important requirement.
To create a controlled environment
within the science enclosure, engineers designed
a ventilation system incorporating
an external fan/blower that pulls air across
a HEPA filter and diffuses it in a manner
that creates an even laminar flow within
the enclosure before exiting through the
Exaust Air Through True
HEPA Filter to Cabin
True HEPA
Filter 99.99%
Redundant
Fans
HEPA Media
Filter 85%
HEPA Media
Filter Air in SE
Air Intake
from Rack
An illustration shows prototype enclosure for ISS-rack installation. (Image: NASA)
exhaust filter. The glove seal forms an airtight
and liquid impervious seal.
This novel design also allows the user
flexibility to choose their own task-specific
glove material, facilitates easy tool-free
assembly and quick glove changes, and
may be transferable to other types of enclosures.
Another key feature is that a
through-port can be quickly fitted to an
empty glove port.
Due to the science enclosure system
intended application aboard the ISS, its
electrical draw does not exceed 24V,
thereby making it feasible to power it
from a battery for terrestrial field use or
other applications where accessing power
is a challenge. The combination of its
performance, portability, BSL 2 capability,
and inexpensive production costs
could position the science enclosure system
and accompanying innovations to
be valuable in the fields of education,
research, clean rooms, hospitals, and disaster
relief efforts.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to
commercialize this technology. Please
contact NASA's Licensing Concierge at
Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov
or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licensing
discussions. For more information,
visit https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/
MSC-TOPS-126.
A Solution for Energy Transfer to Heart Pumps
Instead of powering the heart pump via thick cable that is much stiffer than human skin,
engineers use several thin and flexible wires with a rough, irregular surface.
ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
F
or many patients waiting for a donor
heart, the only way to live a decent
life is with the help of a pump attached
directly to their heart. This
pump requires about as much power
as a TV, which it draws from an external
battery via a seven-millimeter-thick
cable. The system is handy and reliable,
but it has one big flaw: despite
medical treatment, the point at which
the cable exits the abdomen can be
breached by bacteria.
Tech Briefs, August 2024
Andreas Kourouklis, ETH Zurich researcher
and engineer, is working to
soon make this problem a thing of the
past. With the support of ETH Zurich
Professor Edoardo Mazza and physicians
from the German Heart Centre in Berlin,
Kourouklis has developed a new cable
system for heart pumps that doesn't
cause infections. This is particularly important
given that wireless methods of
transmitting power remain unavailable
to patients in the foreseeable future.
www.techbriefs.com
Scar tissue with a limited blood supply
forms around the exit point. This not
only impairs the skin's ability to heal itself
but also increases the risk of infection.
Since the outer layers of the skin
are wounded and loosely attached to the
flat surface of the thick cable, they grow
in downwards. As a result, bacteria can
travel from the surface of the skin into
deeper tissue layers, often leading to patients
having to struggle with infections
and rehospitalization.
19
https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/MSC-TOPS-126 https://www.techbriefs.com
Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2024

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