Innovations

NASA’s Challenge

NASA wanted a team of doctors and a hospital laboratory for spaceflight.

We addressed this with a suite of innovations.

For the ultimate demonstration, NASA launched this to space…

The rHEALTH ONE was sent to the International Space Station onboard the Antares NG-17 rocket on February 19, 2022.

Explanation of the launch of the Antares NG-17 rocket, carrying the rHEALTH ONE, from Wallops Island, VA to space.

rHEALTH ONE on the ISS! Samantha Cristoforetti, the ESA astronaut part of the SpaceX Crew-4 astronaut team, demonstrated first in space operation of the sophisticated biomedical analyzer. She performed experiments across two sessions involving microliter drops of NASA-prepared control samples on May 13, 2022 between 09:00 and 17:00 GMT and again on May 16, 2022 between 10:45 and 18:30 GMT. Success!

Our Solutions

An introduction to rHEALTH® systems

rHEALTH Diagnostics

Diverse, multiplex assays from a single, small volume sample. With rHEALTH®, we are decentralizing traditional laboratory testing and putting deep diagnostic abilities in the hands of consumers.

SKYE Sensor

Wearable device that provides comprehensive real-time continuous monitoring of vitals and health.

Ask rHEALTH

Ask rHEALTH is an autonomous physician who provides optimal treatment and management recommendations based on your diagnostic and vitals information.

rHEALTH: How It Works

The rHEALTH® instrument and SKYE sensor provide comprehensive analytical information for blood and vitals. An individual, even an astronaut crew member, can perform full self diagnosis without technical training.

The SKYE sensor is affixed to the chest and sends real-time vitals data via Bluetooth. The user collects a single drop of blood in a consumable and inserts it into a reader. Once inside the rHEALTH® reader, our microfluidic technology perform dilution, mixing, and complete sample prep. Inside specific channels, both cells and analyte-specific nanostrips flow past lasers that interrogate the cells and nanostrips via fluorescence and light scattering. Quantitation of cells and analytes happen within microseconds. And in minutes, thousands of events are recorded, referenced to calibrators, and then finally communicated to the user via Bluetooth.

Nanostrips

Core Innovations

In order to bring vast capabilities to digital health, there needs to be fundamental innovations. We have worked hard to invent the future. Below are selected patented and patent pending innovations that enable our hardware:

Nanostrips and blood cells

Nanostrips are rectangular microparticles that can be barcoded to allow for massive multiplexing with small sample volumes. These are similar to traditional test strips, except they are shrunk in volume by over a billion-fold.

Spiral vortex micromixer and three key components of the design: inlet, spirals, and detection point

Spiral Vortex Micromixer achieves chaotic advection necessary to overcome laminar flow within the microfluidic channels and enable micromixing of small blood samples. US Patent 9,194,780.

rHEALTH® diagnostics work on the principle of laser-induced fluoresence

Miniaturized Optical Block. Major advances in the miniaturization of complicated and large optical systems make it possible for us to deliver the rHEALTH in its handheld form. The optical block is 1000x smaller in mass and volume than comparable performance optical assemblies.

Sample consumable

Microvolume sample loader. Innovation for collection of small volumes of biological sample. This allows us to collect less than 10 uL of sample for analysis. The entire sample is analyzed with minimal residual volume.

Integrated Wearable Sensor

The SKYE sensor includes integrated sensing technology for measuring vitals with a single device. The following is a list of targeted vitals for the SKYE Sensor: ECG and Heart Rate, Respiratory Rate, SpO2 (oxyen saturation), Accelerometer, Core Temperature, and Cuffless Blood Pressure

rHEALTH Diagnostic Capability Highlights

rHEALTH technology test menu and status. Tests are listed for different categories and disease areas. The length of the bars indicate the current development status of each test.

A. Small sample requirement, B. Diverse analysis abilities, C. Exquisite sensitivity

Along with small sample requirement, diverse analytic capabilities—including mixed marker analysis, and exquisite sensitivity, the rHEALTH® diagnostic platform supports a wide range of multiplexed assay types. The rHEALTH® excels at measuring diverse analytes, across assay classes, from small microvolume samples.

For more information, contact us at bd@rhealth.com

The Need on Earth

Healthcare is inaccessible and inadequate. Sophisticated lab diagnostics are only available in central laboratory settings in well-resourced countries. Accessible high-performance home-based diagnostics are needed to improve healthcare.

Healthcare should be readily available at our fingertips. Telemedicine, remote consults, and health apps are very limited without actionable diagnostic information. The majority of doctor’s visits require a blood draw or some other diagnostic information. Unfortunately, today this is not possible.

Anyone should be able to peer at their health. Currently, there is a physician or other medical professional that mediates the interaction with a patient. A patient should be able to take proactive steps to increase their health, like lowering their cholesterol with a better diet, screening for infection status, or checking their blood counts.

Here at rHEALTH, we believe if astronauts can monitor their health status by themselves in a spaceship in zero gravity, you should be able to do it too, in your home, and with your feet on the ground.

Imagine completing biomedical diagnostics with core vitals health review and sharing that information with your doctor, all while waiting for your friends at a park.

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