Kansas State University

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University researchers are improving astronauts' outerwear for outer space.

The collaborative team -- which includes electrical and computer 1xbet online games login professors and more than a dozen students -- envisions a future spacesuit that could monitor astronauts' health and use body heat to power electronics. By working with a model spacesuit, the engineers are exploring how wearable medical sensors can be used in future space missions to keep astronauts healthy.

The project is supported by a 1xbet sports betting Media,Di and involves the College of 1xbet online games login 's electrical and computer 1xbet online games login department, the Electronic Design Laboratory and the College of Human Ecology, including the kinesiology department and the apparel, textiles and interior design department.

William Kuhn, professor of electrical and computer 1xbet online games login , and Steven Warren, associate professor of electrical and computer 1xbet online games login , are two key faculty members working on the 1xbet online games login portion.

"This project supports a number of undergraduate and graduate students in doing systems-level 1xbet online games login research and making them the technologists of the future," Kuhn said.

The project involves five parts, with several students involved in each part:

* Developing and testing biosensors that can monitor astronauts' vital data, such as breathing rate or muscle activity.

* Creating a specialized wireless network so that spacesuit biosensors can communicate with each other and with a space station.

* Using energy harvesting technology to power radios and biosensors while an astronaut is in a spacesuit.

* Building hardware prototypes for biosensors and energy harvesting electronics.

* Producing spinoff technologies, such as new radio technologies and devices that apply to home care.

"This project is a good example of how when you do something in space, everything needs to be rethought -- human elements and nonhuman elements of the system," Warren said. "We have a lot to learn about human physiology and what happens to a person as they physically change in a reduced-gravity environment."

The engineers are using 3D electromagnetic field simulators and a spacesuit model. Because real spacesuits cost million, Erin Monfort-Nelson, master's student in apparel, textiles and interior design, Iola, built a replica of the spacesuit used in the space shuttle program. The suit replica is made of multiple layers of material, including metalized fabrics to model the layers in real suits that protect astronauts and keep them warm.

Batteries are too dangerous to place in a spacesuit's oxygen-rich environment, so the team is developing new energy harvesting methods to gather energy. These methods use the temperature difference between body heat and the spacesuit's cooling garment to power radios and other electronics inside the spacesuit.

"This is a systems-level project where we bring together integrated circuit design, software design, biomedical sensors and the biology of people," Kuhn said.

Added to the communication and power challenges in space is that astronauts' bodies also change in space. Muscle mass and bone density decrease and an astronaut's vision can change. Warren is working with Thomas Barstow, professor of kinesiology, and a team of students to develop sensors that astronauts can wear to measure their health and predict fatigue onset. Studies have involved simulated lunar tasks -- such as climbing ladders or collecting rock samples -- while wearing both commercial sensors and devices developed by the Kansas State University team.

Some of these wearable body area network sensors include:

* Electromyographic sensors to monitor muscle activity.

* Accelerometers to measure movement.

* Pulse oximetry sensors worn on the forehead, wrist or finger to measure blood oxygen saturation and heart rate.

* Chest-worn respiration belts to measure breathing rate.

The engineers also are developing ways for these sensors to communicate with each other in the suit and to a spacesuit hub that transmits the information back to the space station.

"This project is a fantastic community and team-building effort," Warren said. "It offers a good venue to establish a local community of researchers that have a fruitful and frequent dialogue to accomplish the same goal. We can move new ideas into the classroom and teach them to students."

Other faculty members involved in the project include Don Gruenbacher, associate professor and head of the electrical and computer 1xbet online games login department; Dwight Day, associate professor of electrical and computer 1xbet online games login ; Balasubramaniam Natarajan, professor of electrical and computer 1xbet online games login ; and Tim Sobering, director of the Electronics Design Laboratory.

Students involved in the project include:

Samuel Wilcox, master's student in kinesiology, De Soto; Yojana Mendoza, senior in microbiology, Dodge City; Charles Carlson, master's student in electrical 1xbet online games login , andJordan Leiker, senior in electrical 1xbet online games login , both from Hays.

From Manhattan: Andy Fund, academic adviser and master's student in electrical 1xbet online games login ; Safa Khamis, master's graduate in electrical 1xbet online games login ; Garrett Peterson, junior in electrical 1xbet online games login ; Levi Riley, senior in electrical 1xbet online games login ; Susanna Schlup, master's graduate in kinesiology; and Jacob Sobering, sophomore in electrical 1xbet online games login .

Dana Gude, master's graduate in electrical 1xbet online games login , Olsburg; Brogan McWilliams, master's student in electrical 1xbet online games login , Paola;Ryan Broxterman, doctoral student in physiology, Paxico; German Sanchez, senior in electrical 1xbet online games login , Ulysses;Riley Harrington, master's student in electrical 1xbet online games login , Wakarusa; and Amy Hodges, master's graduate in electrical 1xbet online games login , Wichita.

From out-of-state: Carl Ade, doctoral graduate in physiology, Purcell, Okla.

From out-of-country: Chenyu Zheng, master's student in electrical 1xbet online games login , Beijing, China; Wen Song, master's graduate in electrical 1xbet online games login , Chengdu,China;Xiongjie Dong, master's student in electrical 1xbet online games login , Fuzhou, China; Guanting Liu, former student in electrical 1xbet online games login , Guangzhou, China; Shuo Ouyang, master's student in electrical 1xbet online games login , Shantou, China; Muhannad Alshetaiwi, senior in electrical 1xbet online games login , Buraydah,Saudi Arabia; and Mohammed Tajeldin, doctoral student in electrical 1xbet online games login , Aleppo, Syria.