For Release: November 18, 1996

Steve Roy
Office of Media Services
(205) 544-0034
steve.roy@msfc.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 96-181

NASA AND THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH SIGN AGREEMENT TO DEVELOP REVOLUTIONARY X-RAY DEVICE

NASA and the National Institutes of Health have signed an agreement last month to facilitate the development of a new X-ray technology with the potential to improve scientific research and enhance people’s quality of life through better medical imaging instruments.

The collaborative research agreement takes new X-ray technology recently developed by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., X-Ray Optical Systems, Inc., Albany N.Y., and the Center of X-Ray Optics of the State University of New York at Albany and enhances its imaging capabilities for a variety of commercial uses.

Expected applications in scientific research and medicine include better manufacturing control for semi-conductor circuits and better medical imaging, such as in mammography and improved forensics.

"Once developed, the X-ray device will enhance a researcher’s ability to determine difficult protein structures at a faster pace, which is critical to new drug design," said Dr. Dan Carter of Marshall’s Laboratory for Structural Biology.

The NASA developed X-ray technology is capable of generating beams that are more than 100 times the intensity of conventional X-rays. At the heart of the NASA technology is a new type of optics for X-rays called Capillary Optics. The X-rays can be controlled by reflecting them through tens of thousands of tiny curved channels or capillaries, similar to the way light is directed through fiber optics. The high-intensity beams will permit scientific and medical research to be performed in less time with higher accuracy and could permit the use of smaller, lower-cost and safer X-ray sources. "NASA’s contribution to the agreement is sponsored by the Microgravity Research Program Office at Marshall, for the office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications at NASA Headquarters. This new agreement is based on pioneering work in the field previously sponsored by Microgravity Research. The technology will eventually be applied to research on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station," said Kearns.

The agreement between NASA and the National Institutes of Health will be effective until Sept. 30, 1999.

NOTE: Photos are available to support this news release. To request copies, please call Marshall Center Media Services at 205-544-0034.