|
|
|
|
| Urine Collection Device |
| DTO 690 |
| In-Cabin |
| Principal Investigator: Jennifer D. Villarreal |
| Overview |
|
Five crew members will participate in this DTO, which has five objectives: 1. Evaluate the fit of several sizes/types of manual urine collection devices (UCDs) and their adapters (anatomical interface) in microgravity. 2. Evaluate the ability of the adapter and valve design to accommodate urine flow with minimal leakage. 3. Evaluate hygienic aspects of the UCD design, e.g., its ability to minimize residual urine in or around the adapter that could potentially disperse into the cabin. This UCD feature will also make scientific measurements of total urine volume within the bag more accurate. 4. Evaluate user-friendliness of urine collection operations. 5. Evaluate techniques for returning urine to the waste collection system (lower priority). There are two primary benefits of an improved design for manual urine collection devices. The UCD will be used as a backup to the current waste collection system (WCS). Normally, if the WCS fails, the crew uses diapers and must cut the mission short. But with the backup UCD, this will not be necessary. Secondly, the ability of current UCDs to collect urine from females is a serious disadvantage in scientific studies that include female subjects. With the small number of subjects participating in microgravity experiments, loss of all female subjects in studies requiring urine collection is unacceptable to the scientific community. Although this study aims to optimize UCD designs for both sexes, the highest priority is to find an acceptable female adapter, given the problems with the current devices. Male subjects have also had problems with the existing UCDs: leakage, fit, and urine remaining in the dead volume. Therefore, a secondary objective of this study is to design and evaluate upgrades for the male interface. The final designs will be flown on all missions that require urine collection samples, either as the primary method of collection or as a backup to an automated system proposed for space station. |
| History/Background |
| This is the third flight of DTO 690. Its last flight was STS-96. |
Editorial/Technical Comments: ShuttlePresskit
