Prioritizing your health is important on Earth, but it’s even more important in space. Exploring beyond the Earth’s surface exposes humans to conditions that can affect blood pressure, bone density, immune health, and more. With this in mind, two NASA inventors teamed up 20 years ago to develop a way to one day monitor astronauts’ heart health on long-duration spaceflight missions. The technology is currently being used to monitor the health of heart failure patients around the planet through a commercial product expected to be launched in late 2024.
NASA inventors Dr. Laney Simmons, Senior Microwave Communications Engineer, and Dr. Felix Miranda, Deputy Director of Communications and Intelligent Systems, apply their expertise in radio frequency integrated circuits and antennas to track astronauts. We have created a small, implantable sensor system to Cosmic health. The technology, developed at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland with seed funding from NASA’s Office of Technology Transfer, consists of small sensors implanted in living organisms that monitor human health. It can be transmitted from the sensor to the handheld device. The sensor is battery-less and wireless.
“You can insert a sensor and have it go all the way to your heart or aorta like a stent. It’s the same process as a stent implant,” Simmons said. “The implantation does not require major surgery, and patient operation of the external handheld device is simple and easy.”
After Glenn patented his invention, cardiac surgeon Dr. Anthony Nunez and mechanical engineer Harry Roland licensed the technology and in 2007 founded the digital health medical technology company Endtronics (now Edwards Lifesciences). company) was established. The company is focused on enabling proactive heart failure management with a data-driven patient-to-physician solution that detects hazards and is based on Glenn technology. Endotronix’s primary monitoring system is called the Cordella pulmonary artery (PA) sensor system. Dr. Nuñez became aware of the technology after reading a technical magazine that featured the concept and noticed similarities that could be used in the medical technology industry.
This concept has been proven useful in heart failure management through several clinical trials, with patients experiencing improved quality of life. Based on Endotronics clinical trial results demonstrating safety and efficacy, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted premarket approval for the Cordella PA sensor system in June 2024. The system aims to allow clinicians to remotely assess, treat and manage heart failure in patients at home, with the aim of reducing hospital admissions.
“When you look at the statistics of the number of people who have congestive heart failure and high blood pressure… there are so many people,” Miranda said. “It’s great to hear that the medical community is saying there is a device based on NASA intellectual property that has the potential to help people around the world improve their health, enjoy life, and get work done. And that’s very consistent with NASA’s mission: do the work for the benefit of everyone.”
