Chemiluminescence Biosensor for Non-invasive Crew Health Monitoring at the International Space Station

Long-duration manned space missions require that astronauts be equipped with analytical devices suitable for performing on-site clinical-chemistry analysis. In the frame of the “IN SITU Bioanalysis” project, an analytical device for measuring the steroid hormone cortisol (an indicator of chronic stress) in saliva has been developed. The device performed a Lateral Flow Immunoassay (LFIA) for cortisol employing disposable plastic cartridges produced by FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) 3D printing technology, which encapsulated a sealed fluidic element containing the LFIA strip and the reagents required for the analysis. Detection was performed by chemiluminescence (CL) using a dedicated CL reader equipped with a cooled charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. The European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Paolo Nespoli successfully used the “IN SITU Bioanalysis” analytical device during the mission “VITA”, a 6-months space mission onboard the International Space Station (ISS) in the framework of a dated bilateral agreement between the Italian Space Agency (ASI—Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) and NASA. The experiments proved the feasibility of CL-LFIA ultrasensitive (i.e., at the sub-ng/mL level) quantitative bioassays in space. In perspective, the “IN SITU Bioanalysis” analytical device could be adapted to the measurement of other biomarkers of diagnostic and prognostic relevance, even in a multiplexed fashion (i.e., detection of multiple biomarkers in a single analysis) to develop panels tests for diagnosis and follow-up of pathologies or monitoring health status of astronauts