Flips: Fluidic Integration of Printed Sensors

As NASA’s manned exploration programs advance toward more challenging missions including Martian spaceflight and long-term space habitation, novel technologies must be adapted for astronaut health monitoring and diagnostics. Among the technologies currently under development, In-Space Manufacturing (ISM) is an attractive approach because it mitigates the need to include multiple prefabricated sensors in spaceflight payloads instead allowing production of sensors on an as-needed basis by additive manufacturing techniques such as 3D-printing and inkjet printing. Several examples of ISM sensors have been demonstrated recently. However, liquid sample handling in microgravity environments produces several challenges, and consequently all liquid handling must be contained in a closed environment to prevent sample loss and contamination of crew quarters. Here we demonstrate the development of an ISM-compatible manifold for the fluidic integration of printed sensors (FLIPS). Our approach to the development of the FLIPS manifold is to identify components that cannot be manufactured using ISM techniques, and to fabricate all other components using flight-heritage 3D-printing and CNC cutting. FLIPS includes a mounted peristaltic pump and switch valve with measurements performed on off-the-shelf screen-printed carbon electrodes. We demonstrate the performance of the manifold with a model redox species (ferrocene carboxylic acid). Finally, we show the potential application as an integrated healthcare diagnostic system by detection of a renal health biomarker, alkaline phosphatase. This capability is necessary to ensure the success of ISM sensors for liquid samples and allows further customization of sensor architectures. The FLIPS platform demonstrates the applicability of ISM to complex fluid handling that will be adopted in future NASA missions.