By Diagnostics World News Staff
December 4, 2025 | When SpaceX’s Inspiration4 lifted off in 2021, it launched new opportunities for commercial space travel and raised new questions about how a space environment impacts the human body. TrialX believes what we learn about biology in space will not only expand our understanding of extreme environments’ impact on human health but will deepen our understanding of how biomarkers and health data are best gathered and explored at home as well.
TrialX was selected to build the first comprehensive database and biorepository of human health and environmental data as part of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH), which is funded by NASA. TRISH collects human health data from commercial spaceflight missions, and with their Enhancing Exploration Platforms and Analog Definition Program (EXPAND), they have the backing of several companies—including University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, and the Baylor College of Medicine—that will help further research on the effects of commercial spaceflight on the human body and other projects.
Astronauts participating in EXPAND missions use wearable devices to collect continuous streams of physiological data: heart rate variability, oxygen saturation, sleep quality, and stress levels. Pre-flight and post-flight also use clinical assessments, surveys, and genomic sequencing to capture even more data. Data added to the EXPAND database can also be used in the future by authorized researchers everywhere looking to help science understand what happens to the health and performance of humans when they travel to space.
TrialX is not new to extreme environments. They also are running research in Antarctica testing the acquisition of ultrasound images with a portable probe. The objective is to learn if the devices can be self-handled by researchers in a constrained environment with less supportive resources available, which would have important implications for future space research.
TrialX is creating a platform that can allow individuals to store most of their own health information in personalized data hub. According to Sharib Khan, CEO and cofounder of TrialX, this “portable health server” could allow people to become their own health recordkeeper—no matter where they are. Individuals will be able to keep their data securely in one place, connect their devices (while keeping it off the cloud), and can even utilize AI chatbots to help them better understand their own data. As the final frontier continues to be explored, new opportunities for patients to take control of their own health are opened.
To read the full story written by Deborah Borfitz, head over to Clinical Research News.