Spinoff story

Liquid Cooled Garment

A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.

About this technology

Overview

Liquid-cooled bra aids in detection of cancer using technique known as infrared thermography. Water flowing through tubes in bra cools the skin surface to improve resolution of thermograph image. Cancerous tissue recovers from cooling faster than normal tissue because of increased blood flow characteristics of cancerous tumors. By increasing the temperature difference between normal and cancerous tissue through cooling, differentiation becomes more apparent on thermograph.