Page 45 - International Space Station Benefits for Humanity, 3rd edition.

Investigation Title Valuation Summaries

Microfluidics Medical research conducted by Methodist Hospital Research Institute (MHRI) has
led to nine patents and 21 scientific publications, as well as two highly cited literature
reviews on nanochannel drug delivery systems. The MHRI research on the ISS has
focused on understanding how fluids flow through very small channels (nanofluidics)
in order to potentially create drug delivery systems and tunable nanochannel implants.
In 2013, the MHRI received $4 million from the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases to study a refillable implant for administering HIV pre-exposure
prophylactics. The implant, developed in partnership with Gilead, may be approved
for use as early as 2021. In 2017, MHRI received $2.7 million in research funding from
Novartis and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space to study the use
of the nanochannel system in delivering a muscle atrophy drug. Nanofluidics research
may influence how medicines are administered across the world, and could provide
a new pathway for treating diseases that currently require costly, invasive procedures.
Mobile Servicing Translated from the space station’s Canadarm2 technology, NeuroArm was a pioneering
System MRI-compatible surgical robotic system that resulted in eight patents, 10 scientific
articles, and more than $18 million in research funding for NeuroArm Surgical Ltd.
IMRIS acquired NeuroArm technology for $8.3 million in 2010. A second-generation
model, SYMBIS, successfully received Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance
in 2015 for brain biopsy procedures following successful clinical trials. In 2015, Deerfield
Management acquired IMRIS and rebranded the company as IMRIS, Deerfield Imaging.
The new company has no known plans for commercializing SYMBIS.

Mobile Servicing The Center for Surgical Invention & Innovation (CSii) and MacDonald, Dettwiler and
System Associates (MDA), a Maxar Technologies company, are collaborating to develop the
Image Guided Robot (IGAR) surgical system, which enables the remote manipulation
of devices inside an MRI bore. The IGAR underwent Phase II clinical trials in 2015
following the completion of a Phase I clinical trial in Quebec in 2014. In November
2017, the collaboration between Csii and MDA led to the formation of a spin-off
company, Insight Medbotics Canada Corporation, to commercially launch IGAR
products. One such product, IGAR-Breast, holds the potential to become the first
Food and Drug Administration 510(k)-approved MRI-guided robotic breast biopsy
device, and is expected to first demonstrate its capabilities in U.S. markets.

SG100 Cloud Expanding on technology developed for computers used in the Alpha Magnetic
Computing Payload Spectrometer-02 (AMS-02) investigation on the ISS, Business Integra (BI) was
formed to refine high-performance, radiation-tolerant computers for use in low-Earth
orbit, as well as in high-radiation Earth environments. BI’s spaceflight-tested SG100
computer achieved NASA’s highest technology readiness level (TRL), TRL-9, and
boosts processing capabilities by 12-fold at only 40% of the cost of currently available
radiation-hardened computers.

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