Long term partnership with NASA for human advancement

December 2022

NASA commits to Compremium’s CPMX1 System for deep space missions to Moon and Mars. The device will be used to ensure astronaut health during the long flights in zero gravity.

Compremium’s CPMX1 System enables NASA to detect changes in the body that are the result of prolonged exposure to zero G.

From garage to space station

NASA and Compremium have long been engaged in a true partnership for the advancement of mankind. It started over 20 years ago, when Dr. med. Ulrich A. Baumann set out to develop a revolutionary device to measure venous pressure in the human body non-invasively. He built the first prototype in his garage in a small town near Bern in Switzerland.

Studies were carried out and first results were published soon after. It didn’t take long for Dr. David Martin from Johnson Space Center of NASA in Houston, TX to read the publications. He immediately recognized the relevance of the findings for NASA’s own research on long-term effects of weightlessness on the human body during space flight. He contacted Dr. Baumann by email, introducing himself with “Hello, I’m David from NASA”, and a close research and development partnership began.

Pilot studies by NASA with VeinPress methodology

In spring of 2013, initial studies with the 1st generation prototype of the Veinpress device – a predecessor of today’s CPMX1 - were carried out at the NASA laboratory in Houston. The studies were followed by intensive tests in parabolic (zero gravity) flights with NASA crew members out of Bordeaux in France. The pilot study was published in 2015 and lead to a follow-up study which was published in 2016.

‍

Figure 1: VeinPress device by itself (left) and positioned as it was used on the head of the ultrasound probe during cephalic vein pressure measurements (right).

‍

The Veinpress device has been in use on the International Space Station (ISS) since 2018 and various studies have been published, including a key study on the venous and arterial responses to partial gravity which was published in 2020 (see figure 2). The study entitled "Assessment of Jugular Venous Blood Flow Stasis and Thrombosis During Spaceflight" was mentioned in the highlight section of NASA’s annual results report from ISS (page 37.)

‍

Figure 2: Internal jugular vein (IJV) cross-sectional area, inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter, and common carotid artery (CCA) flow were measured using ultrasound in nine subjects (5F, 4M) while seated when exposed to 1.00-Gz, 0.75-Gz, 0.50-Gz, and 0.25-Gz during parabolic flight and while supine before flight (0-G analog). Additionally, IJV flow patterns were characterized.

‍

In preparation for missions back to the Moon and on to Mars, crucial research at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX will be focused on studying the shifting of fluid in the human body under weightlessness. For this research, NASA will rely on the new and FDA-cleared CPMX1 System. The device can detect changes in the body resulting from prolonged exposure to zero G and will be used to ensure astronaut health during the long flights into deep space.

‍

‍

Find out where the ISS is right now:

Live Space Station Tracking Map | Spot The Station | NASA

‍

Disclaimer

The CPMX1 has received FDA clearance for the following indication for use: “The Compartmental Compressibility Monitoring System (CPM#1) is intended for real-time and intermittent monitoring of relative compartment compressibility. The relative compartment compressibility (CP Value) is not meant for trend analysis.”

Healthcare professionals can apply to become an investigator and obtain the device for investigational use by sending a request to info@compremium.ch