NASA Space Technology saves lives on Earth

OdishaLIVE Bureau

A suitcase-sized device called FINDER helped uncover survivors from destroyed buildings in one of the hardest-hit areas of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that rattled Nepal on April 25. The technology detected the men’s presence even though they were buried under about 10 feet of brick, mud, wood and other debris.

FINDER, which stands for Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response, is a collaboration between NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL), Pasadena, California, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate in Washington.

FINDER detects the small motions using algorithms similar to those that JPL uses to measure the orbits of satellites at Jupiter and Saturn, or changes in Earth’s surface from orbiting satellites. It then displays the detected heart and respiration rates and a reliability score. FINDER’s software can distinguish between the heartbeats of a human and those of animals or mechanical devices and could be used to find people lost in a forest, trapped in a burning house or buried in the wreckage of a collapsed building.

Two prototypes of FINDER were taken to Nepal with an international contingent of search and rescue personnel, which helped find the four men in Chautara, Nepal.In natural disasters such as earthquakes and avalanches, timing is everything. The faster victims can be found, rescued and taken to safety and medical care, the more likely they are to survive. FINDER is a tool that complements the other search methods, like canines, listening devices and cameras, used by first responders.

FINDER sends a low-powered microwave signal – about one-thousandth of a cell phone’s output – through rubble and looks for changes in the reflections of those signals coming back from tiny motions caused by victims’ breathing and heartbeats.

A rescue worker using a rugged laptop running the FINDER software, can specify a minimum and maximum range for detecting heartbeats in the vicinity. The program identifies whether the signal is stronger from the left or right as well, to further pin point the victims’ locations. The FINDER device weighs less than 20 pounds, so it can easily be transported by car or plane.

There are many potential uses in medicine as well, FINDER could monitor the vital signs of someone who is trapped in a car or quarantined with an extremely contagious disease such as Ebola. In these situations, first responders could measure a patient’s heartbeat without having to physically touch them. The next generation of this technology could combine FINDER with robotics and even small autonomous flying vehicles to get closer to victims and examine a wider area.

“NASA technology plays many roles: driving exploration, protecting the lives of our astronauts and even saving the lives of people on Earth,” said David Miller, NASA’s chief technologist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. FINDER exemplifies how technology designed for space exploration has profound impacts to life on Earth.