LMT Selected for Two 2019 SBIR Phase 1 Contracts for SPICE and HyMDOL

Continuing our innovation momentum, Leiden Measurement Technology is proud to announce that NASA has selected us for two new 2019 Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase 1 contracts to design and build new instruments for chemical extraction and life detection in challenging environments. 

The first contract will be for building the Sample Pre-processing Instrument for Chemical Exploration (SPICE), an automated sample pre-processing module capable of efficiently extracting chemicals of interest from solid samples and then delivering those analytes to other analytical instruments. The SPICE instrument will be ideally suited for processing solid samples from planets, moons, asteroids or other bodies. As a remote, autonomous and adaptable instrument, the SPICE module will be similarly ideal for processing samples under dangerous circumstances such as in areas of high radiation or severe chemical contamination. 

The second contract will be for HyMDOL: a high-resolution, compact microscope that enables hyperspectral Raman and fluorescence microimaging with sub-micron resolution. HyMDOL will be designed as a rugged, compact instrument, suitable for NASA mission deployments on icy worlds where it could be used for life-detection. HyMDOL could also be used as a mineralogical microscope or even on the space station to study biological processes.

There are many additional important applications for HyMDOL including characterizing graphene/CNT materials and pharmaceuticals; performing forensics studies; studying mineral (micro-)structures and other geologic applications; studying geomicrobiological systems; characterizing materials; performing medical diagnostics of tissue samples; and working with novel bead-based solid phase suspension arrays.