Herndon Lego Team and California Professor Develop Astronaut Aid

A local First Lego League Robotics Team, the Astrobots, is collaborating with a California Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Dr. Krishnan Chakravarthy, and a Distinguished UCSD Nanomedicine Professor, Dr. Joseph Wang, to develop a solution to a persistent astronaut back pain problem. Dr. Chakravarthy is mentoring the Astrobots, a team of 4th through 8th graders from Herndon, Virginia, and surrounding area public schools. Dr. Chakravarthy has been working with Dr. Wang to combine the disciplines of nanotechnology and pain medicine, to find opioid-sparing alternatives in treating chronic pain. The Astrobots asked Dr. Chakravarthy for help in using Curcumin, a non-opioid pain medication, for treating the chronic back pain suffered by astronauts during long-term space missions. Dr. Chakravarthy presented his latest research to the Astrobots, a nanomedicine-loaded skin patch with an acoustic droplet vapor delivery system. This method would provide a faster, more efficient noninvasive method to deliver medicine using nanomedicine technology. The contribution that the Herndon Elementary/Middle school team has made to the effort is to propose applying this method to deliver Curcumin, a minimal side-effect, non-addictive medication, to alleviate persistent back pain for extended-mission space astronauts. The Astrobots are happy to be associated with Dr. Chakravarthy because of his emphasis on universal medicine. As Chakravarthy says, “Right now we absolutely have everything in our hands to revolutionize medicine. I can imagine in 20 years being able to cure all diseases at the genetic level with nanotechnology. It’s mind-boggling. The industry is now at the cutting edge.” The Astrobots, sponsored by MyEdmaster, a local after-school program, compete in a local robotics competition in November, where they will present their research.