Research context
The NASA 2020 feasibility assessment
A 2020 NASA feasibility report reviewed over 1,600 records on drug-free pain relief for long space missions and ranked ActiPatch® first.
This ranking is about spaceflight practicality only. It is not a NASA endorsement, not clinical evidence and not a finding that any one approach relieves pain better than another. ActiPatch® is FDA-cleared for adjunctive treatment of musculoskeletal pain, and this report does not change that.
Did NASA rank ActiPatch® first for pain relief in space?
No. A 2020 report prepared at NASA’s Johnson Space Center ranked 4 drug-free device approaches by how easy they would be to use in spaceflight, and pulsed shortwave therapy, the technology in ActiPatch®, ranked first. The report did not compare how well the approaches relieve pain, and it is not a NASA endorsement.
The ranking
Order of perceived ease of implementation in spaceflight, from Table 5-1 of the report.
| Rank | Approach | How it is applied | Practical notes in the report |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pulsed shortwave therapy (PSWT) | A small wearable loop placed over the painful area | Example listed: ActiPatch® (BioElectronics Corp). Over the counter, no treatment sensation, 720-hour disposable battery. |
| 2 | Ultrasound | Wearable pads that deliver sound waves into tissue | Prescription home use, 6-hour rechargeable battery. |
| 3 | Photobiomodulation | Handheld laser or LED light applied to the skin | Over the counter, 8-hour rechargeable battery, 5-minute sessions. |
| 4 | TENS | Electrical current through electrodes on the skin | Over the counter. Stimulation is set just below the pain threshold, which some users dislike. |
The report also noted limits for PSWT: finite battery life and effects that are not selective about which nerve signals they change. Its recommendations were to obtain an ActiPatch® device for further evaluation and to connect with pain research at the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health.
What it assessed
- Published research, patents and federal grant databases, searched digitally between July and September 2020. More than 1,600 database records were screened and 77 were used in the final summary.
- Which existing pain treatments might suit long missions, where medicines have limited shelf life and resupply is hard.
- Non-invasive devices that act on the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, ranked by how practical they would be to use in spaceflight.
What it did not assess
- No device was tested on people, in a laboratory or in space as part of this report.
- It did not compare how well the four approaches relieve pain.
- Medicines, exercise, mind and body methods, implanted or needle-based procedures and brain stimulation were outside its focus.
- The author notes the search was not exhaustive because libraries were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About the source
Carol Mullenax, “Electromagnetic Pain Relief/Blocking: Feasibility Assessment,” NASA Johnson Space Center, 24 September 2020. A contractor technical report funded by the center’s 2020 Innovation Charge Account program and published on the NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS).