NASA / New York Space
Grant Consortium
Prof. Sheldon Weinbaum and Dr. Phillip Payton
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The City College of New York
The City University of New York
Highlights past decade CCNY
NYSPG Affiliate Program
1. Proposed and twice hosted “NASA in
New York Day” for NYC area high
schools.
• Attended by 1150 high school juniors from 120 high schools
• 150 high school science teachers and counselors present
• Morning Speakers:
Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Director Rose Planetarium
Yervant Terzian, Cornell, Director NYSPG
James Hanson, Director NASA Goddard Inst.
Mario Runco, Astronaut (CCNY)
Ellen Baker, Astronaut (SUNY Buffalo)
• Afternoon: Exhibits, demonstrations, tours, NASA raffle
Highlights of CCNY NYSPG
Affiliate Program (Cont’)
2. Summer research program for
high school students (1997-2004)
3. NASA Space Grant Fellowships
and Scholarships (1997-2007)
4. NASA Exploration Systems
Mission Directorate (ESMD) Space
Grant Program Design Projects
(2007-2009)
NASA Space Grant Fellowships
and Scholarships at CCNY
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First NASA Space Grant Graduate Fellowship 1997-1999
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NASA Space Grant Graduate Fellowships since 2004
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Peter J. Butler-Associate Professor BME, Penn State Univ.
Amer. Heart Assoc. Fellow 1999-2002, NSF Career Award 2002
Erica Calton (BME minority, passed 2nd exam PhD)
Eduardo Hernandez (EE minority, passed 2nd exam PhD)
Kelly Emerton (BME, passed 2nd PhD exam)
Georgina Bermudez (BME minority, MS 2007)
Danielle Wu (BME, 2nd year of PhD)
Rishi Mathura (BME minority, 2nd year of PhD)
NASA Space Grant UG BME Scholarships ($500-$2000)
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Ilana Hellman (Valedictorian CCNY 2006)
Jennifer Walz (Valedictorian Grove SOE 2007)
Undergraduate BME majors with GPA > 3.5
ESMD - Senior Design Program
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Objective: integration of one or more ESMD mission
challenges into a biomedical engineering design course
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Phase I: students learn skills in teamwork, design process,
planning and scheduling, proposal and technical report
writing, and oral presentations.
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Phase II: construction and evaluation of the device
prototype, testing for conformity with specifications, ethics
in design and safety, and construction of a final product.
Design of a portable minimallyintrusive biomonitor for NASA
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Location:
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Participants:
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Larriera A., Hue C., Davis L., Javed B., Khouma N., Latif A., Osman
M., Shah P., Singh S., Teklehaimanot Y. and Tindi J.
Professors:
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Senior Design Laboratory in the Biomedical Engineering Department.
The City College of New York
Dr. L. Cardoso and Dr. M. Bikson
Teaching assistants:
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R. Mathura and H. Qazi (Graduate Students)
Design of a portable minimallyintrusive biomonitor for NASA
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Team composition:
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5 Females & 6 Males
undergraduate Junior
students
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4 African American, 6 Asian,
1 Hispanic
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4 out of 11 are NIH Scholars
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GPA higher than 3.0
Introduction
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During space flights, astronauts are exposed to a
harsh environment with many factors that pose threats
to their health and well being.
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Monitoring the state of vital physiological parameters is
essential for detecting medical conditions that may
result in mission failure.
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The design of a portable biomonitor is proposed to
help assess astronauts health status in space.
Goal
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To develop a minimally invasive portable
biomonitor suitable for use by astronauts
during space flights.
Biomonitor for NASA
Astronaut wearing a biomonitor
Specifications
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Monitor vital parameters related to heart, brain and muscle
activity, as well as oxygen saturation in hemoglobin and
radiation exposure.
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Equipped with a sound and visible alarm in case any of these
parameters reach a dangerous level.
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Size will be miniaturized, designed not to interfere with any
physical activities, and will have appropriate mechanical
robustness.
Specifications (con’t)
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It will include a telemetry system for continuous recording
of bio-signals within a PC or external storage device.
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Resist electromagnetic interference (as might be
encountered near other electrical equipment / antennas /
environment), as well as produce minimal electromagnetic
interference itself.
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Under the worst case scenario of failure, the device will
pose no electrical or chemical risk to the user
System Design
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Signal conditioning (amplification + filtering)
 Electroencephalography
for:
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Electrocardiography
Electromyography
Acquisition Amplification
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Oxygen saturation
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Radiation exposure sensors.
Signal Processing
Transmission
Block Diagram of biomonitor system
Stand alone device
designed with a
programmable
microcontroller (Texas
Instruments) ~$12.00
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Low power consumption
Digitization of biosignals in real
time
Digital filters
Custom operation software
Calculation of Heart Rate and
trends
Visual and Sound Alarms
Numerical values visualized in a
built-in liquid crystal display (LCD).
Texas Instruments Microcontroller
Prototype Development
Microcontroller
Oxygen Saturation
Display
Electrocardiography
Electroencephalography
Electromyography
Radiation Sensors
Electronic Prototype
Prototype Testing
Electrocardiography signal
Electronic Prototype Testing
Electromyography Signal
Future Work
Custom casing
 Wireless transmission protocol
 Development of head-strap to hold
oxygen saturation sensor and EEG
electrodes
 Low weight battery (rechargeable)
 Analysis of heart rate variability
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References
1] Prutchi & Norris. Design and Development of Medical Electronic
Instrumentation. Wiley and Sons 2005.
2] Schaumann and Van Valkenburg. Design of analog filters.Oxford University
Press 2001
3] Luecke. Analog and digital Circuits for Electronic Controlsystem Applications.
Using the TI MSP430 Microcontroller.Newnes 2005.
4] www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/Spinoff2004/rd_2.html
Acknowledgments
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Support provided by:
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The NASA-NY Space Grant Consortium from NASA's Exploration
Systems Mission Directorate and
The Biomedical Engineering Department of The City College of The
City University of New York.