Aurora Flight Sciences Awarded NASA Contract for On-Orbit White Blood Cell Counting System

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Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:01am EDT 

  CAMBRIDGE, MA, Mar 24 (MARKET WIRE) -- 
Aurora Flight Sciences announced today that it has been awarded a NASA
Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I contract to develop an
On-Orbit Immuno-based, Label-free, White Blood Cell Counting System with
MicroElectroMechanical (MEMS) Technology (OILWBCS-MEMS). Aurora is teamed
with the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in this effort.

    Aurora will be using a Draper-developed MEMS based technology in which an
array of white blood cell-specific antibodies are immobilized on small
gold-coated membranes. When blood flows across the membranes, specific
cells' surface protein antigens bind to their corresponding antibodies.
This binding can be measured and correlated to cell counts.

    The system will provide a microgravity-compatible, miniaturized,
lightweight method for counting white blood cells on-orbit, including
white blood cell subgroups and lymphocyte subtypes. A white blood cell
counting system is extremely important to the clinical and research needs
of NASA. "Future planetary missions will require a deeper understanding of
cardiovascular changes, including changes in blood cell count; advanced
clinical capabilities will also be required. Currently, NASA does not have
an on-orbit white blood cell counting capability. Aurora's goal is to fill
this need using a simple, robust, miniaturized system," said Dr. Jessica
Edmonds, Aurora's Principal Investigator for this project.

    In Phase I, Aurora and Draper will demonstrate the feasibility of the
white blood cell counting system.

    This rugged, portable, miniaturized technology requires minimal blood
sample preparation and minimal power, and will be useful for both
spaceflight and terrestrial applications.

    About Aurora Flight Sciences

    Aurora Flight Sciences designs and builds robotic aircraft and other
advanced aerospace vehicles for scientific and military applications.
Aurora is headquartered in Manassas, VA and operates production plants in
Bridgeport, WV and Columbus, MS and a Research and Development Center in
Cambridge, MA. To view recent press releases and more about Aurora please
visit our web site at www.aurora.aero.

    

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