ASA is taking the lead in the fight
against breast cancer and other women's illnesses by outlining a
commitment to identify, develop and transfer NASA technologies to benefit
women's health. 
Volume 5, Number 6 November/December 1997
Technology Transfer
ASA is taking the lead in the fight
against breast cancer and other women's illnesses by outlining a
commitment to identify, develop and transfer NASA technologies to benefit
women's health.
Major areas of concern are cancer, reproductive health, pregnancy, osteoporosis and education, outlined in a recently signed NASA agreement with US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Women's Health that established a cooperative framework with Ames Research Center.
In addition to exploring space and developing aeronautics, NASA is charged with applying its technology to improve the quality of life.
Teaming with industry, academia and government, several NASA biomedical experiments have resulted in successful new technology programs between NASA, the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health.
Silicon chips in the Hubble Space Telescope that convert a distant star's light directly into digital images have been adapted so doctors can easily detect tiny spots in breast tissue. Locating the exact spot allows doctors to analyze the tissue using a needle rather than by traditional surgery. This procedure is less painful and less traumatic for the patient and eliminates scarring or disfigurement. The new procedure requires half the time of traditional techniques and reduces approximate costs from $3500 to $850.
This new technology images breast tissue more clearly and efficiently than conventional
x-rays. Both the Hubble Telescope and mammograms require similar technology: high resolution
to see fine details; wide dynamic range to capture in a single image structures spanning
many levels of brightness; and low light sensitivity to shorten exposure and reduce x-ray
dosage. While this highly sensitive Hubble-based technology is improving breast cancer
detection, scientists working with Hubble at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland,
continue to refine and develop this technology.
Space-based instruments used to study the atmosphere may soon have a place in the medical examination room, possible because atmospheric studies and mammography both require compact, reliable, low-power sensors and digital computers. The approach of NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, will be faster, safer, easier to use and save countless lives.
This new approach is significant because it can accommodate different tissue density. This is particularly important for younger women, who have more dense tissue than older women. NASA is working with the National Institutes of Health on a prototype that would create an image of the entire breast with superior resolution.
The computer scans each part of every mammogram image and reports any suspicious areas.
The electronic images can then be transmitted to other experts if more opinions are needed.
Using the best mammogram technique currently available, tumors as small as 0.2 mm, about the
thickness of a piece of thread, have been detected. The goal of digital mammography is to
identify clearly tumors as small as 0.1 mm.
Using the three-dimensional model, physicians will be able to differentiate between cancerous and healthy tissue without painful invasive procedures. The experimental system also will discern differences in tissue by comparing changes in shape and by analyzing the ultrasound signal. The system will potentially improve cancer treatment by focusing ultrasound signals on cancerous tissue without destroying healthy tissue.
NASA technology being developed to perform surgery on astronauts in space is being adapted to robotic technology to help physicians operate on delicate parts of the human body, including the brain and the breast. Led by the NeuroEngineering Group at NASA's Ames Research Center, scientists have developed a robot that can map physical characteristics of the brain, allowing the surgeon to make precise movements during surgery. The technology is being modified further to have the robot feel tumors in other parts of the body to determine severity and appropriate treatment.
The experimental robot can use a smaller, less invasive probe, and it can make more delicate and precise movements than a human, thus reducing damage to healthy tissue and arteries.
For women living in remote areas, access to mammography experts may be hundreds of miles away. Telemammography, the electronic transmission of digitized mammograms, can connect patients in rural locations with medical experts across the country.
NASA technology will help provide quality medical diagnosis and information services to remote areas in a faster, more cost-effective manner than the current costly telephone line transmission that can take hours.
NASA's Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, working with breast cancer research hospitals, including the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Virginia, is performing critical research to allow new satellite networks to support telemammography.
NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, is leading a project using the microgravity of space to assemble and grow human tissue for research and transplantation.
The bioreactor is a special tissue culture chamber designed by NASA to engineer tissue. Scientists hope to create a three-dimensional (3-D) tissue culture and send it to the Mir Space Station in early 1998. One of the first experiments in this unique environment will allow cancer tissue to be assembled and grown from individual cells. The three-dimensional tissues are crucial to understanding cancer and how the human immune system responds. The bioreactor permits scientists to grow cells similar to tissues found in the human body. By testing three-dimensional tissues for sensitivity to chemotherapy and hormonal therapy, researchers gain valuable knowledge important to the treatment of breast and ovarian cancer.
