Competence Center Bioscience and Medical Engineering
| Bioscience and Medical Engineering | |
|---|---|
| founding | 1977 |
| Sponsorship | state |
| place | Hergiswil |
| Head of Competence Center | Marcel Egli |
| Employee | 10 (2013) |
| Website | hslu.ch |
The Competence Center Bioscience and Medical Engineering (formerly CC Aerospace Biomedical Science and Technology ) is a research area for biomedical space research and medical technology at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts . The research facility works in the field of mechanobiology, especially biomedical research under weightlessness . By the end of 2012, the group was under the name Space Biology Group ( Space Biology Group ), a research group at the ETH Zurich .
history
The Space Biology Group was founded in 1977 at the ETH Zurich. In January 2013 the group moved from the ETH Zurich to the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences. To do this, it moved its location from Zurich to Hergiswil , where it moved into its own building.
Research activity
The main aim of the investigations is to describe mechanobiological processes that occur in cells under the influence of different forces . The results of the research are important for astronauts as well as for sports and rehabilitation medicine as well as for geriatrics .
Biochemical , molecular biological and electrophysiological technologies are used in the laboratories of the competence center . Since it was founded in 1977, more than 25 space missions have been carried out in the International Space Station ISS and on so-called low gravity platforms such as sounding rockets and parabolic flights . Weightless instruments are required to carry out the experiments. These devices are developed and built by the competence center together with external partners.
Biotechnology Space Support Center - BIOTESC
The competence center operates the Biotechnology Space Support Center BIOTESC on behalf of the European Space Agency ESA. This is one of nine ESA User Support and Operations Centers (USOC). BIOTESC supports scientists from all over the world in the planning and implementation of biological experiments in the European Columbus space laboratory on the ISS and provides the necessary infrastructure. BIOTESC also supports the astronauts in the ISS in carrying out biomedical experiments from a specially equipped control room. The USOC's control room is part of the so-called floor segment .
Fields of activity
The tasks of the BIOTESC include the planning of experiments, the development and validation of ground procedures and flight procedures, science validation tests, experiment sequence tests, support for astronaut training, interactive operation of space experiments, operation of ground facilities as well as data acquisition, processing, archiving and distribution.
BIOTESC is also a plant responsible center responsible (ger .: Facility Responsible Center, short, FRC) for the CUBIC system and system supporting a founding center (ger .: Facility Support Center, shortly FSC) for the Biolab and for the experiments in these two plants are executed.
CUBIC
Kubik is a modular system that serves as a supply unit (incubator) and cooling unit. The small dimensions allow the facility to be operated in different segments of the ISS: in the Russian segment, in the European segment, etc. Experiments are carried out fully automatically in experiment containers. The power supply for the experiment containers is provided by KUBIK. Inserts with centrifuges allow 1g control experiments on the ISS. Complex experiments are carried out by astronauts and monitored by BIOTESC via video. KUBIK telemetry data is not transmitted in real time. Experiment containers with the appropriate samples are returned to the scientists in the form of Soyuz capsules , for example .
Biolab
The German Space User Center (MUSC) in Cologne is responsible for the Biolab system. The control of the biological experiments in Biolab is carried out by interconnecting (cascading) the user centers BIOTESC and MUSC.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Space Biology Group: basic research, biotechnology, tissue engineering, and instrument development . PMID 14649628
- ↑ Technical ESA document on KUBIK. (PDF; 1.6 MB) Documentation of the KUBIK system
Coordinates: 46 ° 59 ′ 13.1 " N , 8 ° 18 ′ 44.1" E ; CH1903: 666459 / 204358