NASA technology put to work for lung cancer detection

It’s where NASA technology meets mobile health innovation.

Calif.-based mobile health developer Vantage Health is joining forces with Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI), a National Institutes of Health-sponsored consortium led by Scripps Health and the Scripps Research Institute, for the advancement of mobile health technology using cutting-edge space technology.

Specifically, the partners are working on the development of personalized and point-of-care screening using mobile apps based upon chemical sensing residing within a small device attached to a smartphone, according to an announcement.

Through this partnership, STSI will assist in the testing, evaluation and detection of certain basic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to calibrate the results of the Vantage sensor through validation. STSI will also assist in the testing, evaluation and detection of certain VOCs commonly associated with lung cancer, using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to calibrate the results of the Vantage sensor through validation.

“This is arguably one of the most vital and exciting steps in our effort to transfer the technology out of the labs at NASA and into the marketplace, as part of our commercialization process,” said Jeremy Barbera, chairman and CEO of Vantage Health, in a release.

STSI and Vantage Health are planning to collaborate on clinical trials, with the actual trials to be conducted at STSI, the Midwest and New England, according to the announcement.