NASA Glenn testing Cleveland-made IV-making device in space

CLEVELAND (WJW) – During every human space mission, NASA packs IV fluid. The simple saline mixture can treat everything from dehydration to burns.

NASA said it could help address nearly a third of medical emergencies in space.

“You could potentially get food poisoning just like you do on earth,” NASA Glenn engineering project manager Courtney Schkurko.

But, there is a problem. Prepackaged IV bags expire after about 16 months, and future missions to Mars could last as long as three years.

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So, engineers at NASA Glenn in Cleveland created a solution that sounds straight out of science fiction. The device is called IVGEN Mini.

“We take that drinking water equivalent and we send it through our device which filters it, removes toxins, removes particulates and it then generates a sterile medical grade fluid that we mix with a solid salt to create that 0.9 percent concentrated medical saline,” said Schkurko.

Schkurko said the miniaturized system arrived at the International Space Station last month, where astronauts are preparing to test it this spring.

“NASA originally developed IV Gen, the original device way back in 2010. It was really heavy and used. It worked but what we needed to do was miniaturize it and compact it,” Schkurko said.

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The system can currently produce more than a liter of IV fluid every hour and the impact could reach far beyond astronauts, reaching people in remote locations and during natural disasters.

“If you think about third-world countries or you think about military type environments, they don’t always have access to these types of fluids,” Schkurko said.

The bigger mission? Developing technology for space that could also save lives here at home, NASA said.

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