New NASA patents offer potential advances

March 12, 2004

Linda Singleton
Johnson Space Center, Houston
Phone: 281/244-1403



Report #JT04-001

NEW NASA PATENTS OFFER POTENTIAL ADVANCES

NASA inventions that may help advance human cell growth, kill prostate
cancer cells with microwave energy and enhance pharmaceutical research are
now available to interested private companies.

The technologies, patented in January, were developed at the Johnson Space
Center. They offer great potential for advances in health, medicine and
communications. They are now available for licensing by private industry to
benefit the public.

"NASA's goal is to strive to ensure that the products of its research and
development work achieve practical applications where they can directly
benefit the public," said JSC Patent Counsel Edward Fein. "One way we do
this is by offering our patents to companies to provide them the degree of
exclusivity necessary to justify the commitment of private resources needed
to take a technology and realize its potential public benefits."

The newly available patented technologies include:

Prostate Cancer Treatment -- An innovation that could be used in a potential
treatment to combat prostate cancer was granted the fourth in a series of
U.S. patents. This patent covers a computer simulator that is designed to
predict a patient's temperature profile. The noninvasive treatment involves
the use of microwave energy introduced by way of a catheter to heat and kill
benign cancer cells in the prostate.

"Thermal heating profiles within the body tissue are calculated using the
microwave and thermal properties of body tissue to determine proper heating
times and power levels," said inventor Dickey Arndt, who is credited with 21
patented inventions at NASA.

Bioreactor Cell Culture Growth Advance - Expanding human applications of a
remarkable NASA-developed system for cell culture growth that already is in
commercial use is the focus of another patent. The bioreactor system allows
the cultivation of three-dimensional cell cultures in a rotating vessel,
simulating the way cells grow within the human body. Designed to grow cell
cultures in weightlessness, the bioreactor has achieved cell cultures in
space and on Earth that can better compare to actual cell growth within the
body. These systems use a time-varying electromagnetic field imposed on a
spinning, fluid-filled vessel to provide ideal conditions to grow
three-dimensional tissue and enhance the growth of neural tissue.

"The rotational culture systems simulate zero gravity and, within limits,
are able to achieve these improved results on Earth," said astronaut David
Wolf, former manager of the JSC Biotechnology Program. "Tissue culture
is a fundamental technique, touching a broad range of medical systems." Wolf
conducted cell and tissue research during his 158 days in space aboard the
Mir Space Station.

3-D Protein Structure - This recently patented technology, third in a series
of related patents, includes a technique to determine three-dimensional
protein structure that may hold promise for pharmaceutical advances. The
technology introduces a way to form microcapsules on Earth by encapsulating
the dissolved form of a protein, drug or bioactive substance in a membrane.
This membrane is strong enough to grow and protect fragile protein crystals,
yet transparent enough to x-ray for an in-depth study of the protein
structure. Three-dimensional protein structure knowledge opens doors to
design or reproduce drugs. Potential pharmaceutical advances such as these
could lead to improvements in health care..

Optical Network Innovations -- The use of spatial light modulators in
optical networks, such as those used in computers and fiber optic cable, can
offer more efficient communications. Modern communication systems often use
light carriers. This innovation centers on a unique optical switch, equipped
with a polarizing beam splitter, and the use of spatial light modulators or
liquid crystal devices. Traditional switches, which convert optical signals
into electrical signals and vice versa to carry data, are limited. To
overcome poor synchronization and low bandwidth, this innovation can be used
to connect light from a single source to a number of destinations
simultaneously. This process can also be reversed to speedy optical network
interconnectivity.

Companies can license these technologies and collaborate with NASA on
research and development to improve all aspects of people's lives. Thousands
of space technologies have found their way into everyday life, from quartz
timing crystals used on Apollo missions in the 1960s to smoke detectors
developed in the 1970s for Skylab. JSC has an extensive intellectual
property portfolio, with 487 issued U.S. patents and more than 40 pending
applications for U.S. patents.

For more information about JSC's patented technologies and information about
licensing or partnership opportunities, visit the JSC Technology Transfer
and Commercialization web site:

http://technology.jsc.nasa.gov/




---------------------------

Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info