Class
Article
College
College of Science
Department
English Department
Faculty Mentor
JR Dennison
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
A novel system was developed to simulate the combined effects of reduced gravity and ionizing radiation present during spaceflight on biological and particulate samples. The miniature rotary cell culture system (mRCCS) was designed to synchronously rotate up to five independent vessels containing particulate samples suspended in fluid media, constructed using radiation tolerant, biocompatible, and vacuum compatible materials. Reduced gravity conditions were achieved when suspended particles (e.g., 200 μm polystyrene microcarrier beads with or without adhered cell clusters) were suspended inside the vessels moving near terminal velocity in viscous neutral-buoyant fluid media with densities matched to the suspended particles to achieve neutral buoyancy. Variations in centripetal acceleration from slow rotation of the vessels limited reduced gravity environments from ~1·10-5 to ~2·10-2 g, comparable to similar commercially available systems. The effective gravitational acceleration applied to particles was calibrated through particle tracking of suspended particles within the mRCCS systems vessels. The entire mRCCS apparatus can be used in a standalone configuration for independent reduced gravity simulations or can be introduced into the Utah State University’s Space Survivability Test (SST) chamber for radiation exposure or simultaneous radiation exposure under reduced gravity. The SST chamber has a ~90 mCi 90Sr source that emits 0.2 to 2.5 MeV β radiation. The combined mRCCS and SST chamber system can provide average effective dose rates for the suspended particles, controlled over a broad range (900X) from ~3.7 mGy/day to 3.4 Gy/day by varying the source-to-sample distance and using varying slit width graphite shields. This system can provide stable, simultaneous space-like radiation and reduced gravity environments for experiments conducted on timescales of minutes to months.Initial experiments have focused on understanding cellular damage due to the effects of radiation and reduced gravity on cardio and neurological cell clusters, with a long-term goal of studying damage mitigation of biological reagents.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-8-2022 12:00 AM
Included in
Simultaneous Simulation of Microgravity and Ionizing Radiation in a Laboratory Environment
Logan, UT
A novel system was developed to simulate the combined effects of reduced gravity and ionizing radiation present during spaceflight on biological and particulate samples. The miniature rotary cell culture system (mRCCS) was designed to synchronously rotate up to five independent vessels containing particulate samples suspended in fluid media, constructed using radiation tolerant, biocompatible, and vacuum compatible materials. Reduced gravity conditions were achieved when suspended particles (e.g., 200 μm polystyrene microcarrier beads with or without adhered cell clusters) were suspended inside the vessels moving near terminal velocity in viscous neutral-buoyant fluid media with densities matched to the suspended particles to achieve neutral buoyancy. Variations in centripetal acceleration from slow rotation of the vessels limited reduced gravity environments from ~1·10-5 to ~2·10-2 g, comparable to similar commercially available systems. The effective gravitational acceleration applied to particles was calibrated through particle tracking of suspended particles within the mRCCS systems vessels. The entire mRCCS apparatus can be used in a standalone configuration for independent reduced gravity simulations or can be introduced into the Utah State University’s Space Survivability Test (SST) chamber for radiation exposure or simultaneous radiation exposure under reduced gravity. The SST chamber has a ~90 mCi 90Sr source that emits 0.2 to 2.5 MeV β radiation. The combined mRCCS and SST chamber system can provide average effective dose rates for the suspended particles, controlled over a broad range (900X) from ~3.7 mGy/day to 3.4 Gy/day by varying the source-to-sample distance and using varying slit width graphite shields. This system can provide stable, simultaneous space-like radiation and reduced gravity environments for experiments conducted on timescales of minutes to months.Initial experiments have focused on understanding cellular damage due to the effects of radiation and reduced gravity on cardio and neurological cell clusters, with a long-term goal of studying damage mitigation of biological reagents.