Micro-Organ Device

The miniature bioreactor system was developed to provide the capabilities for NASA to perform cell studies in space and then provide results back to investigators on Earth with minimal tools and cost. The miniature bioreactor system has the potential to also be used on Earth as a laboratory bench-top cell culturing system without the need for expensive equipment and reagents. The system can be operated under computer control to reduce the operator handling and to reduce result variations. The system includes a bioreactor, a fluid-handling subsystem, a chamber wherein the bioreactor is maintained in a controlled atmosphere and temperature, and control subsystems. The system can be used to culture both anchorage dependent and suspension cells (prokaryotic or eukaryotic cell types). Cells can be cultured for extended periods of time in this system, and samples of cells can be extracted and analyzed at specified intervals. The miniature bioreactor system for cell culturing has applications in pharmaceutical drug screening and cell culture studies.

The apparatus comprises a randomized gravity vector multiphasic culture system with a self-feeding growth module, an optionally disposable nutrient module, and a removable AIMR chamber that delivers a pulsating multivariant field to the contents of the culture system. It produces overlapping or fluctuating alternating ionic magnetic resonance frequencies at one or more modal intervals ranging from about 7.8 Hz to about 59.9 Hz to the cell chamber. The apparatus may yield better regulation that can be manipulated to allow for increased rate of cell growth, faster differentiation, increased cell fidelity, and the induction or suppression of selective physiological genes involved in directing cellular differentiation and dedifferentiation. The use of an AIMR field may provide a significant improvement over existing bioreactors, including pulsating electromagnetic field (PEMF) and time-variance electromagnetic field (TVEMF) cellular growth induced systems, in that AIMR incorporates the modulation of cellular transcription. The AIMR system utilizes pre-sterilized disposable modules and a removable alternating ionic magnetic resonance chamber, reducing the hazard for contamination, allowing scientists to implement physiological and homeostatic parameters similar to a naturally occurring physiological system.

The technology utilizes four cutting-edge sensor technologies to enable minimally- or non-invasive analysis of various biological samples, including saliva, breath, and blood. The combination of technologies and sample pathways have unique advantages that collectively provides a powerful analytical capability. The four key technology components include the following: (1) the carbon nanotube (CNT) array designed for the detection of volatile molecules in exhaled breath; (2) a breath condenser surface to isolate nonvolatile breath compounds in exhaled breath; (3) the miniaturized differential mobility spectrometer (DMS) -like device for the detection of volatile and non-volatile molecules in condensed breath and saliva; and (4) the miniaturized circular disk (CD)-based centrifugal microfluidics device that can detect analytes in any liquid sample as well as perform blood cell counts. As an integrated system, the device has two ports for sample entry a mouthpiece for sampling of breath and a port for CD insertion. The breath analysis pathway consists of a CNT array followed by a condenser surface separating liquid and gas phase breath. The exhaled breath condensate is then analyzed via a DMS-like device and the separated gas breath can be analyzed by both CNT sensor array again and by DMS detectors.

The handheld digital microscope features a 3D-printed chassis to house its hardware, firmware, and rechargeable Li-ion battery with built-in power management. It incorporates an internal stainless-steel cage system to enclose and provide mechanical rigidity for the optics and imaging sensor. To reduce the microscope’s size, yet retain high spatial resolution, engineers devised an optical light path that uniquely folds back on itself using high reflectivity mirrors, thus significantly reducing internal volume. Imaging control and acquisition is performed using a secure web-based graphical user interface accessible via any wireless enabled device. The microscope serves as its own wireless access point thus obviating the need for a pre-existing network. This web interface enables multiple simultaneous connections and facilitates data sharing with clinicians, scientists, or other personnel as needed. Acquired images can be stored locally on the microscope server or on a removable SD card. Data can be securely downloaded to other devices using a range of industry standard protocols. Although the handheld digital microscope was originally developed for in-flight medical diagnosis in microgravity applications, prototypes were thoroughly ground-tested in a variety of environments to verify the accurate resolve of microbial samples for identification and compo-sitional analysis for terrestrial field use. Owing to its portability, other applications demanding rapid results may include research, education, veterinarian, military, contagion disaster response, telemedicine, and point-of-care medicine.

NASA’s electrochemical Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) microelectrode array biosensor advantageously incorporates a microbead detection construct, coupled with a magnetic immobilization construct, which substantially increases the signal sensitivity of a sensor. The magnetic immobilization construct draws the microbead detection construct to an electrode detection surface, enhancing signal sensitivity. By concentrating the signaling molecules close to the electrode detection surface, electrochemical redox cycling is achieved by reducing the distance between the two, allowing for regeneration of reporter molecules. Whereas a traditional ELISA testing exhibits five to ten signaling molecules per probe molecule binding event, the present electrochemical ELISA-based biosensor testing exhibits up to 4,857 signaling molecules per probe molecule binding event. The model bead construct exhibits a more than 6.75-fold in increased measured signal, and more than 35.7-fold improvement in signal sensitivity. When compared to traditional optical ELISA, the present invention improves the limit of detection by up to a factor of 60.5. NASA’s electromagnetic ELISA-based biosensor can be used for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus to enhance Covid-19 testing during the early phases of infection. The technology may also be modified to detect other biomarkers.