Technology Opportunity Showcase highlights some unique technologies that NASA has developed and which we believe have strong potential for commercial application. While the descriptions provided here are brief, they should provide enough information to communicate the potential applications of the technology. For more detailed information, contact the person listed. Please mention that you read about it in Innovation.

Technology Opportunity Showcase

Hot NASA Technologies

Liquid-Crystal Interferometer

The John H. Glenn Research Center seeks partnerships to transfer a new liquid-crystal interferometer, proven to measure optical wavefronts of transparent objects. The liquid-crystal interferometer provides low-cost, small-volume, data reduction and full field measurement options. These measurements permit the determination of temperature, density, chemical composition or thickness distributions in transparent solids, gases or liquids. This device can also be used to measure the shape of highly reflective objects, such as mirrors. The instrument has a compact, robust design and optical phase-stepping capability for qualitative data analysis. The result is a compact, simple-to-align, environmentally insensitive interferometer capable of accurately measuring optical wavefronts. This instrument is at least two orders of magnitude less sensitive than conventional interferometers. The interferometer is constructed from a liquid-crystal layer that provides object-beam phase control and an embedded microsphere that locally generates a reference beam. The potential commercialization avenues include glass or plastic inspection, optical testing, remote temperature measurement, chemical mixing measurement and fluids studies.

For more information, contact Larry Viterna at Glenn Research Center.
Call: 216/433-3484, Fax: 216/433-5012, E-mail: Larry.A.Viterna@grc.nasa.gov
Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

Implantable Biotelemetry System

Ames Research Center is currently seeking partnerships to develop commercial applications for the Implantable Biotelemetry System for preterm labor and fetal monitoring. The goal is to create one pill-sized transmitter, small enough to be introduced into the uterus through a 10-millimeter trocar, that measures all four fetal physiological parameters: pressure, temperature, pH and heart rate. The pill transmitter's compactness, longevity and durability are substantial advancements because the transmitter allows a pediatric surgeon, for the first time, to monitor intra-uterine pressure changes in real time and to get immediate information on contraction frequency and intensity. With the advances, built on the 1993 Fetal Treatment Center/Sensors 2000! adaptation of NASA's Implantable Biotelemetry System, the pill has potential uses other than for fetus surgery. A prototype of the transmitter has been built on a printed circuit board using surface-mount components and is currently being tested in pregnant sheep. The final "pill" version's circuits are identical to the printed circuit board; however, the pill uses chip-on-board technology to drastically reduce the size of the printed circuit board from 38 by 28 millimeters to 22 by 8 millimeters. The portability of the system makes it easily adaptable to any hospital setting and ideal for use in a home-based monitoring environment, which opens a new field of applications in fetal monitoring. Because the pill transmitters are small enough to be swallowed, they can easily provide information on stomach acid without the need for surgery. Intestinal pressure changes could be monitored as well. Future pill versions could measure electrocardiograms, blood gas (such as carbon dioxide) and blood glucose, as well as ions such as potassium, calcium and sodium.

For more information, contact Denice Helwig at Ames Research Center.
Call: 650/604-4490, Fax: 650/604-1592, E-mail: dhelwig@mail.arc.nasa.gov
Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

Millimeter Wave/Microwave Ablation

Johnson Space Center is seeking industrial partnerships to continue the testing of the millimeter wave/microwave ablation and to license this technology for nonaerospace applications. The millimeter wave/microwave ablation is for the nonsurgical repair of diseased coronary arteries by interventional cardiologists during coronary catheterization. Potentially safer than balloon angioplasty and other prior forms, the device delivers millimeter/microwave energy by way of a catheter to precise locations of the coronary arteries. The device selectively targets and heats atherosclerotic lesions. It can be used to melt away fatty deposits of atherosclerosis and does not scar the blood vessel, thus preventing restenosis (a condition in which platelets and white blood cells go where the blood vessel was damaged). It is very nonintrusive; it can be used as a preventative measure and can precede the implantation of a stint and allow multiple tasks to be performed in one catheterization. The device consists of a millimeter/ microwave power source, a catheter transmission line in the form of a waveguide or coaxial cable and an antenna/radiator located at the distal end of the catheter. The potential commercial use, with a forecasted multibillion-dollar market worldwide, is noninvasive treatment for atherosclerosis.

For more information, contact the Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office at Johnson Space Center.
Call: 281/483-1749, Fax: 281/244-8452, E-mail: commercialization@jsc.nasa.gov
Please mention you read about it in Innovation.