From Heart Pumps to Braces, Space Technology is Transferring into the Hands of Entrepreneurs

Technology derived from NASA and the Department of Defense – and paid for by American taxpayers – is transferring into the commercial marketplace faster than ever before. Up until now, protecting this intellectual property has been handled through top-secret clearances, the U.S. intelligence community and a well-armed military. But entrepreneurs attempting to transfer space technology to commercial applications here on Earth don’t have such assurances, and must develop their own strategies for protecting their hard-earned patents and trademarks.

Bridging the gap between traditional aerospace technology and consumer and business products that people want to buy takes time, hard work, lots of risk – and a good lawyer. That’s why the IP law firm of Townsend and Townsend and Crew is a founding sponsor of the 8th Continent Project. It’s all part of the greater goal of helping to organize these new business and commercial applications that will benefit our lives today, and our children’s future.

There are many examples of this phenomenon, and new products are being invented every day. A case in point are invisible orthodontic braces, which came from ceramic technology developed by NASA for the infrared antennae of heat-seeking missile trackers. Inventors from Ceradyne, Inc. and Unitek Corp. used translucent polycrystalline alumina to design brackets that match tooth color and yet are strong enough to withstand the forces of orthodontic treatment – as well as anything a 13-year-old can dish out.

The 3M Unitek Clarity bracket works without a ligature – the elastic bands that attach archwires to brackets. The elastics trap plaque and impede tooth motion, so the space-age bracket not only looks better, but makes treatment faster and more effective.

Patients with congestive heart failure now benefit from pump technology originally developed by NASA for shuttle fuel pumps. The Ventricular Assist Device, manufactured by MicroMed Cardiovascular, mimics the bloodflow and contract/relax cycles of the heart muscle. The design team included cardiac surgeons Dr. Michael DeBakey and Dr. George Noon from the Baylor College of Medicine and engineers from the Johnson Space Center.

At one point in the decade-long process, Dr. Noon asked,

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‘If you can send a man to the moon, then why can’t you make a blood pump?’ NASA engineer Jim Akkerman replied, ‘They gave us a hell of a lot more money to send a man to the moon.’

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Space-related patent filings have tripled in the United States since the 1980s, giving entrepreneurs and technology developers plenty of raw materials to build and innovate, as shown in the examples above.  Townsend and Townsend and Crew is proud to be a part of this important movement that’s helping private businesses develop, deliver and protect their risks as they work hard to deliver the full benefit of these technologies.

This post was written by guest contributor Nathan S. Cassell, patent attorney with Townsend and Townsend and Crew.