Undergoing a blood test in space has been a thing of the future. The reason being that the currently employed blood testing machines are so bulky that they cannot be taken to space.
In a research funded by the Space Giant NASA, researchers from the Caltech (California Institute of Technology) have developed a micro-sized laboratory that they say is capable of determining the exact levels of RBCs and WBCs and some other blood components in the sample of blood under analysis.
The Lab-on-a-Chip has been developed by Professor Yu Chong Tai (Pictured) and his team.
The space-capable technology has been developed after more than thirty months of intense research work. The device uses a capillary tube to pump out a single drop of blood from the finger of a person, which it then analyses and gives a report within 2-minutes.
The device uses micro-sized valves, pumps and flow chamber that are assembled in a device that is no bigger than a cell-phone.
The researchers also commented that the device needs some more improvement before it can undergo any sort of testing in Space. They plan some more features in the device that includes detection of some diseases such as cancer and can also analyze fluids such as urine, blood plasma and can also function as a tool for cancer detection.
According to the researchers the fully developed model of the lab will take another ten years to develop and NASA will still have to wait for another five years before they can undergo the first space test of the device.
Via: tfot
