Buzz
In 1998, doctors utilized a detailed 3D scan of a human skull at the NASA Ames Research Center. Image courtesy of NASA/Getty Images.Key Insights
- NASA has made substantial contributions to the medical field, including advancing MRI technology and creating the LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) for heart patients, demonstrating the agency's impact beyond space exploration.
- Technologies originally developed for space missions, such as digital image processing, have been repurposed for medical applications, improving MRI and CT scan images and using light technology to reduce chemotherapy side effects in cancer patients.
- NASA's innovations have led to the creation of several medical devices and techniques, including ear thermometers, insulin pumps, artificial heart defibrillators, and enhanced mammography technology, showcasing the broad influence of space technology on healthcare.
It's likely that most Americans encounter something in their daily lives that traces its roots back to NASA. This includes items in the medicine cabinet, doctor’s offices, and hospitals.
NASA's involvement in medical breakthroughs is by design. When Congress founded NASA in 1958, they mandated that the agency share its findings. NASA was also authorized to patent its inventions and assist businesses in developing commercial applications for them.
Many medical innovations are the result of NASA's collaborations with other researchers. Some arose because NASA scientists recognized alternative uses for the technologies and discoveries they made while ensuring spacecraft operated smoothly and astronauts remained healthy. NASA publishes reports on the commercial application of its inventions in its annual "Spinoff" reports.
At times, NASA didn’t directly create a breakthrough but rather developed the technologies that made the breakthrough possible or enhanced existing ones. For example, while NASA didn’t invent Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s digital image processing system used for moon imagery contributed significantly to MRIs and CT or CAT scans (also known as computerized tomography).
Another instance is the creation of the LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) in 1995. Engineers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston worked alongside Dr. Michael DeBakey to adapt the space shuttle's fuel pumps into this artificial heart pump. It assists patients awaiting heart transplants and, in some cases, negates the need for a transplant altogether.
More recently, NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program at the Marshall Space Flight Center supported clinical trials of a light technology initially developed for plant experiments aboard space shuttles. A Wisconsin-based company, along with NASA’s research center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, figured out how to use this technology to alleviate the painful side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments in cancer patients undergoing bone marrow or stem cell transplants. Over the years, NASA has earned partial credit for a broad range of medical innovations, including ear thermometers, automatic insulin pumps, implantable heart defibrillators, and advancements in digital mammography technology.
Here are just a few of the many medical advancements that have emerged, at least in part, thanks to NASA's contributions:
- Digital breast biopsy imaging system, derived from Hubble Space Telescope technology
- Small transmitters for monitoring a fetus in the womb
- Laser angioplasty using fiber-optic catheters
- Forceps with fiber optics that enable doctors to measure pressure on a baby’s head during delivery
- Cooling suits to regulate body temperature in the treatment of various conditions
- Voice-controlled wheelchairs
- Light-emitting diodes (LED) used in brain cancer surgery
- Foam insulation from the space shuttle’s external tanks repurposed for more cost-effective and advanced molds for prosthetic limbs
- Programmable pacemakers
- Surgical tools for cataract procedures
Continue reading for further details on NASA’s groundbreaking innovations.
