(Huntsville, Ala. | Aug 2, 2023) – CFD Research has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Human Performance Systems directorate to develop a portable physiological monitoring platform containing bioprinted brain organoids with integrated sensors that can monitor both environmental conditions and their physiological effects. This project is a collaboration with Dr. Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX.
Airmen face exposure to a variety of potentially hazardous environments including exposure to extreme environments and hazardous chemicals. The developed platform will have wide ranging applications in evaluating physiological responses to many of these environmental stressors.
“Of the many dangers Airmen face, Physiological Events (PEs) caused by changes in the local operating environment are some of the most dangerous and elusive,” says Dr. Kevin Roehm, CFD Research project manager. “While current wearable sensors provide feedback to pilots, chemical exposure sensing especially in vivo has proven difficult to adapt to the unique environment of the fighter craft, and there remains a need to integrate multiple data streams to decouple the complex, interdependent responses observed in a dynamic flight environment.”
Investigation of the root cause of PEs requires understanding the pilot’s physiological changes during flight. Invasive sensors that would allow for direct measurements of in vivo markers are impractical. CFD Research is developing a novel predictive, bioprinted organoid sensor platform that will facilitate basic and applied research on the interplay between various physical, chemical and biological elements involved in environmental exposure. The sensor platform and the resulting analysis data will be designed for interoperability with the aircraft equipment, thereby maximizing the full potential of the Airman-machine weapon system.
“The product arising from this effort will be a novel system for generation of cell-based environmental sensing including chemical exposure, extreme environment exposure, including temperature, and atmospheric variation,” noted Dr. Kapil Pant, CFD Research Executive Vice President. “The system will be targeted first to potential end users in the U.S. Air Force. In parallel, applications and end-users in other government and commercial organizations with exposure risk to potentially hazardous environments will be explored for technology commercialization.”
About CFD Research: Since its inception in 1987, CFD Research has worked with government agencies, businesses and academia to provide innovative solutions within the Aerospace & Defense, Biomedical & Life Sciences, and Energy & Materials industries. Over the years CFD Research has earned multiple national awards for successful application and commercialization of innovative technology prototypes, multi-physics simulation software, multi-disciplinary analyses, and expert support services. CFD Research’s impressive three-year growth rate was high enough to recognize the company in the Inc. Magazine’s 5000 for the second year in a row. CFD Research is an ISO9001 and AS9100 registered company and is appraised at CMMI Level II for services. Learn more at www.cfd-research.com.
