DNA Medicine Institute Awarded Two Phase III SBIR NASA Contracts for Its rHEALTH Sensor
– $610K awarded to advance next-generation spaceflight medical diagnostics –
Cambridge, MA, June 29, 2011:
The DNA Medicine Institute (DMI) has been awarded two Phase III NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts totaling $610,000 to accelerate deployment of its groundbreaking rHEALTH sensor — a compact diagnostic device engineered to function as a universal biomedical laboratory for astronauts operating in space.
This award follows DMI’s successful reduced-gravity experimentation under NASA’s FAST (Facilitated Access to the Space Environment for Technology) program in September 2010. NASA subsequently awarded an additional $190,000 contract to DMI to support advanced data analysis from these parabolic flight trials.
According to Dr. Eugene Y. Chan, Chief Scientific Officer at DMI, the trials generated “exceptional performance data that will directly advance the rHEALTH platform for use in future deep-space missions and prolonged stays aboard the International Space Station.”
The rHEALTH sensor builds on DMI’s Phase II SBIR achievements in nanoscale diagnostics — enabling whole-health assessment from a single drop of blood, with minimal reagents and no dependence on traditional laboratory infrastructure. NASA has now identified the device as a key innovation for performing both blood and urine diagnostics directly onboard the ISS, reducing reliance on Earth-based laboratories and enabling rapid, mission-critical medical decisions in real time.
The second newly awarded Phase III contract — Universal In-Flight Health Diagnostic Technology — provides $420,000 to clinically validate the platform’s ability to measure white blood cell counts from fingerstick blood samples to FDA-recognized medical standards. This effort is funded by the NASA Human Health and Countermeasures (HHC) division and administered through the NASA Glenn Research Center.
In addition to its role in space medicine, the rHEALTH platform has powerful terrestrial applications, including rapid diagnostics in emergency medicine, remote care, telehealth, and battlefield medicine — enabling real-time clinical intervention when every second matters.