INTRAVENOUS FLUID GENERATION FOR EXPLORATION MISSIONS (IVGEN)
Research Area: Crew Healthcare Systems
Expeditions: 23- 24
Principal Investigator(s): ● John McQuillen, Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
IntraVenous Fluid GENeration for Exploration Missions (IVGEN) demonstrates the capability to
purify water to the standards required for intravenous administration, then mix the water with
salt crystals to produce normal saline. This hardware is a prototype that will give flight surgeons
more options to treat ill or injured crew members during future
long-duration exploration missions.
EARTH BENEFITS
IVGEN technology could be used on Earth to generate IV fluid in
Third World countries where medical resources are limited.SPACE BENEFITS
Because of mass and volume limitations, space vehicles cannot
carry sufficient IV fluid for medical contingencies. A filtering and
mixing system that can make IV fluid in situ provides the
treatment capability without the mass and volume constraints.
IVGEN was designed and will be tested to meet that need.RESULTS
IVGEN generated intravenous (IV) fluid from ISS Water
Processing Assembly (WPA) potable water using a water
purification technique and pharmaceutical mixing system. The
system operated onboard the ISS during May 2010 and
produced 6, 1.5 liter bags of purified water. Two of these bags
were mixed with sodium chloride to make
0.9% normal saline solution. These 2 bags
were returned to Earth to test for
contamination compliance with United States
Pharmacopeia (USP) requirements. On-orbit
results showed IVGEN met the experimental
success criteria with the exception of the salt
concentration. Problems with a large air
bubble in the first bag of purified water
resulted in a slightly too salty solution of 117%
(USP permits a range from 95% to 105% of
the target value) of the target value of 0.9 g/L.
This problem can be resolved by placing a gas-
liquid separator filter immediately upstream
of the liquid inlet to the accumulator. The
Glenn researchers test the
effectiveness of an IV fluid
mixing method on NASA's zero-
gravity aircraft. NASA’s Glenn
Research Center image.Seen is the IVGEN subassembly that purifies
water coming from the space vehicle. This
subassembly also quantifies water cleanliness, the
water flow rate within the system, and mixing
uniformity in the IV solution. NASA’s Glenn
Research Center image.