Bone and muscle regeneration technology developed with astronauts in mind could provide a foundation for new medical devices to treat pain and new methods of testing drugs in the lab.
GroK Technologies of Houston licensed patents from NASA that it will use to develop two platform technologies for medical applications.
The first is a method of synthesizing 3D human tissue models that researchers could use to run safety, toxicity and efficacy tests on drugs and other products. The company’s proposition is that such a method could provide a more accurate, reliable and cost-effective testing method and reduce reliance on animal testing.
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GroK says a second platform, called Scionic, could sit at the core of noninvasive medical devices that would treat musculoskeletal pain and inflammation without use of pharmaceuticals.
NASA’s interest in developing the technology stemmed from astronauts’ susceptibility to developing osteopenia, or loss of bone mass, during spaceflight. The license agreements are based on discoveries made by Thomas Goodwin and Dr. Linda Shackelford of NASA and GroK’s CEO Moshe Kushman.
The technology transfer program at NASA has spun off nearly 1,800 technologies.
[Image credit: Flickr user NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]