Hexoskin selected to develop a technology to remotely monitor astronauts’ vital signs

December 22, 2015

(December 22, 2015) Montreal, Quebec – Hexoskin

Today, Hexoskin (Carré Technologies) was awarded a contract from the CSA to develop the On Astronaut Wireless Sensor System (OAWSS.) The OAWSS is part of an Advanced Crew Medical System (ACMS) that will help prepare the CSA to fulfill the needs of future human space travel, to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This contract award comes in response to a request for proposals that was posted for its Space Technologies Development Program.

The OAWSS enables the ACMS to remotely monitor crew health, and supports the development of a diagnosis and treatment plan in the event of injury or illness during long duration space missions. The OAWSS sensors can be attached on the astronaut’s body using a biocompatible adhesive, and provide crucial data that can be accessed remotely in real-time. 

The primary objectives of the OAWSS are: the development and fabrication of Wireless Sensor Units, the development of a Sensor Interface Unit, and the development of a Data Management System. Each sensor can be attached on the astronaut’s body, as needed, using a biocompatible adhesive. The Data Management System includes an electronic health record (EHR), a real-time monitoring interface, and an application program interface (API) compliant with the HL7 standard.

The OAWSS is an essential component of a highly integrated medical care system, and permits the automated collection of health data, data management, long-term monitoring of body metrics, and more. “We’ve designed a unique wireless body sensor platform that provides long-term vital signs monitoring with a high level of accuracy, reliability, and configurability, and we’re very excited to have been selected by CSA for this project. The technology developed will be useful to many space groups within CSA, including the Life Sciences and Space Medicine groups,” says Pierre-Alexandre Fournier, CEO of Hexoskin.

Through its Space Technologies Development Program, the CSA invests in Canadian companies like Hexoskin, to foster innovations that are deemed essential for the pursuit of space exploration. OAWSS has the potential of becoming a crucial technology to monitor the health of our astronauts during long duration space missions.

Montreal-based Hexoskin is a technology supplier for the Canadian Space Agency, since 2011. Hexoskin previously delivered the Astroskin system, a wearable platform for remote health monitoring currently used in on-going studies and evaluations. Hexoskin also commercializes the Hexoskin smart shirts for sports training and health tracking. This new contract between the CSA and Hexoskin on the OAWSS solidifies their relationship, and positions Hexoskin as an industry leader in connected health and wearable health technology for space travel and space exploration.

For further details on this project, please view this video by St. Mary’s Hospital Research Center for the CSA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Csa-zBD7U.

Media contact:

Teneisha Collins

Community Manager, Hexoskin (Carré Technologies)
Telephone: 1-888-887-2044
E-mail: contact@hexoskin.com 
Website: hexoskin.com