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In May 2005, NASA signed their first Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). The agreement, signed with Bartron Medical Imaging, LLC of New Haven, CT, will enable the joint development of a three-dimensional (3-D) version of Goddard Space Flight Center’s (GSFC) Recursive Hierarchical Segmentation Software (RHSEG). RHSEG can be used to analyze image (and potentially nonimage) data. This is the first time NASA has relied solely on CRADA authority to enter into a cooperative agreement. Because other government agencies (e.g., DOD, EPA, etc.) routinely use CRADAs (rather than the Space Act Agreements used by NASA), industry is more familiar with those partnership agreements. “It is our hope,” says Keith Dixon, patent attorney in GSFC’s Office of Patent Counsel, “that this CRADA with Bartron will stimulate more partnerships between NASA and industry.” These partnerships can benefit not only American industries but also the American people. According to Mr. Dixon, this CRADA grants (in advance) a partially exclusive license for the resulting technology patents within Bartron’s fields of use (i.e., the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, cervical cancer, brain cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, and periodontal diseases). The CRADA was particularly beneficial for Bartron because investors require a guarantee of exclusivity before they will provide the necessary investment capital to proceed with this development effort, which would not have been possible with a Space Act Agreement. Partner Roles Under the agreement each party will work independently rather than sharing facilities. Dr. James Tilton (Code 606.3), lead researcher in the RHSEG project who spent more than 20 years developing the suite of RHSEG technologies for use in remote sensing, will develop, test, and document the 3-D implementation and will also visit the Bartron facility at Prince George’s County Technology Assistance Center in Maryland to assist with installation and integration with Bartron’s hardware. Bartron will develop a clinical and regulatory protocol, an interface for the software and hardware, a tool for data compression and encryption, and a region labeling tool. Technology Transfer/Partnership Success Major Breakthrough Technology for Early Diagnosis and Treatment Currently, Bartron Medical Imaging sells the Med-Seg™ imaging device utilizing the two-dimensional version of the RHSEG software, licensed from NASA in 2002. The device is intended to analyze digital x-rays, soft tissue scans, mammograms, ultrasounds, MRI images, and CT scans for the diagnosis and management of diseases. The image segmentations the RHSEG software produces allow the Med-Seg™ device to bring out details not previously seen with the naked eye. This could enable physicians to more quickly and accurately diagnose diseases and prescribe appropriate treatment—a benefit that can not only shorten pain and suffering but also save lives. By extending the software’s capabilities to three dimensions, Bartron’s device may be able to produce a pixel-level view of all sides of a tumor or lesion. Bartron President and CEO, Fitz Walker said, “We believe this will drastically improve very early diagnosis and treatment of disease.” While current technology can produce 3-D imagery, the RHSEG software will be able to segment that image in ways that very clearly define problem areas. For example, Bartron anticipates that the 3-D version of Med-Seg™ may be able to identify very early build-up of soft plaque within the arteries of the heart, enabling early treatment and potentially reducing the need for heart bypass surgeries. In mammography, the Med-Seg™ device has the potential to identify density levels of a microcalcifications, thereby identifying a malignant breast tumor well before it would be seen in a traditional mammogram. Another important aspect of Med-Seg is its ability to provide physicians with truer images. Unlike some other image-analysis devices, Med-Seg does not manipulate an image, so what the physician sees is truly what is there. “Since a primary application of this technology is for medical imaging, it is reasonable to expect that NASA may also be able to use this technology aboard the international space station or in support of the NASA Exploration Initiative for Moon/Mars exploration and/or colonies,” says Joe Famiglietti, technology manager at Goddard’s Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP) Office. Contact Innovative Partnerships Program Office
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