Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - 33

Sensors
Impact and Trajectory Detection System
Sensor pinpoints location of impacts and trajectory of the projectile using piezoelectric
polymer film.
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
I
nnovators at the NASA Johnson Space
Center (JSC) have developed an Impact
and Trajectory Detection System
that is capable of determining the time
and location of the projectiles impact as
well as the trajectory of the projectile.
The system can indicate the time and location
of an impact and the trajectory of
that projectile using piezoelectric polymer
film and sensors.
The technology is designed so that the
piezoelectric film covers the area of interest,
regardless of size. This film has the
characteristic that when it is mechanically
impacted, it develops an electrical voltage,
which can be detected. When a target
area of concern is covered by this film,
it will give an indication of a projectile
strike. By dividing the area into pixels,
and attaching sensors to each pixel, the
impact location and time can be obtained.
A computer connected to the system
communicates with the electronics,
processes the raw data, and displays the
raw and processed data to the system user.
The system uses a communication and
control subsystem that upon projectile
impact, performs a time discrimination
analysis to determine the projectiles imvelocities.
The sensor has been extensively
tested and works well in vacuum condiPrototype
of the impact detection system after
an impact evaluation test. (Image: NASA)
pacts location on each panel layer and
the direction or trajectory of the projectile.
This information can help in determining
future safety measures and location
placement for the area of interest.
This system is light in weight and sensitive
to a wide range of impact energies and
tions, ambient conditions, or under pressure
conditions and can exist passively
through the piezoelectric effect.
The electronics do require power, but
they typically consume very low wattage.
Temperature limits have minimal effect
on the piezofilm and the accuracy of the
film is almost 100 percent. Systems of
this type could be useful in settings in
which the occurrence of impacts and/or
the locations of impacts are not immediately
obvious and there are requirements
to detect and quickly locate impacts to
prevent or minimize damage.
Earth-based applications include situations
where it is necessary to quickly locate
impacts to prevent or minimize danger
from munitions, hailstones, burglary
tools, or vehicular collisions.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to
commercialize this technology. Please
contact NASA's Licensing Concierge at
Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov
or call us at 202-358-7432 to initiate licensing
discussions. For more information
visit: https://technology.nasa.gov/
patents/category/sensors.
Sensor Can Detect Scarred or Fatty Liver Tissue
Diagnosing liver damage earlier could help prevent liver failure in many patients.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
A
bout 25 percent of the U.S. population
suffers from fatty liver disease, a
condition that can lead to fibrosis of the
liver and, eventually, liver failure. Currently
there is no easy way to diagnose either
fatty liver disease or liver fibrosis. However,
MIT engineers have now developed a
diagnostic tool, based on nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR), that could be used
to detect both of those conditions.
" Since it's a noninvasive test, you could
screen people even before they have obvious
symptoms of compromised liver,
and you would be able to say which of
Tech Briefs, March 2023
these patients had fibrosis, " said Michael
Cima, the David H. Koch Professor of
Engi neering in MIT's department of materials
science and engineering, a member
of MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative
Cancer Research, and the senior
author of the study.
The device, which is small enough to
fit on a table, uses NMR to measure
how water diffuses through tissue,
which can reveal how much fat is present
in the tissue. This kind of diagnostic,
which has thus far been tested on
mice, could help doctors catch fatty livwww.techbriefs.com
er
disease before it progresses to fibrosis,
the researchers said.
MIT PhD recipient Ashvin Bashyam
and graduate student Chris Frangieh are
the lead authors of the paper, which appears
in Nature Biomedical Engineering.
Fatty liver disease occurs when liver
cells store too much fat. This leads to inflammation
and eventually
fibrosis, a
buildup of scar tissue that can cause jaundice
and liver cirrhosis, and eventually
liver failure.
Fibrosis is usually not diagnosed until
the patient begins to experience symp33
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Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023

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