Evolved Medical Microgravity Suction Device

One of the common complications of chest trauma is the development of a collapsed lung, with air and blood entering the pleural cavity (the potential space between the lung and the chest wall). The medical terms for this are pneumothorax and hemothorax. These conditions are treated by inserting a tube into the space between the lung and chest wall, and attaching a thoracic drainage device with a suction source. The current medical devices used to fix this problem require fluids, and must stay in an upright position There is currently no medical thoracic drainage system and suction capability that can function with a thoracic chest tube drainage system in the space operational environment. Terrestrial models of thoracic chest drainage systems are based upon a gravity dependent fluid system that requires an upright position for the device. This suction device is required to decompress a chest through a thoracotomy tube in the event of a chest injury, pneumothorax or decompression accident Orbital Medicine, Inc. has created a prototype thoracic drainage device that is able to separate the blood from the air, and re-inflate an astronauts lung in microgravity. Our technology uses a novel combination of devices that are for human use with customization to optimize performance independent of the gravity environment. More »