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Johns Hopkins University — Vestibulo-Ocular Function Assessment

Type: Academia (JHU School of Medicine, Otolaryngology)
FO Project: 12195 — Assessing Vestibulo-ocular Function and Spatial Orientation in Parabolic Flight
Period: 2012-05-01 – 2015-05-31
TRL: 4 → 6
PI: Mark Shelhamer, ScD (JHU)
Co-I: Michael Schubert, PhD (JHU)
TX: TX06.3.1 — Medical Diagnosis and Prognosis
Views: 811
Outcome Category: Research/Patent — vestibular assessment validated in parabolic flight, patent filed, clinical research tool; no commercial product
Downstream $: $0 tracked (aerospace-specific); JHU HRP/institutional funding continues separately
Last updated: Session 100, 2026-04-07

What Was Tested

Exposure to novel gravitational environments alters sensorimotor responses — changes in head-eye coordination, spatial perception, memory, dizziness, postural disturbances, and motion sickness. These impairments affect astronaut safety during critical mission phases (landing, EVA, emergency egress).

The project developed and tested a technology for rapid quantitative assessment of vestibulo-ocular function in parabolic flight:

  • VAN/TAN (Vertical and Torsional Alignment Nulling): A method to assess binocular misalignment — a marker of vestibular health — without recording eye movements. This is the key innovation: traditional vestibular assessment requires bulky eye-tracking equipment. VAN/TAN uses a subjective nulling procedure that can be deployed in a portable, compact form factor suitable for spaceflight.
  • The technique measures how much the eyes misalign vertically and torsionally when the vestibular system is perturbed by altered gravity — the degree of misalignment correlates with vestibular health.

FO flights: Parabolic flight campaigns (Zero-G Corp) validated the VAN/TAN technique in microgravity and partial gravity, advancing TRL from 4 to 6.

Patent

US9072481B2 — "Apparatus and method for assessing vestibulo-ocular function"
- Inventor: Mark J. Shelhamer
- Assignee: The Johns Hopkins University
- Filed: 2010-09-09 (pre-FO)
- Issued: 2015-07-07
- Patent link

The patent was filed before the FO project started, indicating the FO flights were validation of a pre-existing invention rather than invention through the FO program. FO provided the reduced-gravity environment needed to demonstrate the device works in the intended operational context.

Publication

"A rapid quantification of binocular misalignment without recording eye movements: Vertical and torsional alignment nulling"
- Authors: Shelhamer, Beaton, Schubert et al.
- Journal: Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 2017
- DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2017.03.009

This paper demonstrates the VAN/TAN technique and validates it as a rapid vestibular health screen — the key output of the FO project.

TechPort Outcome

The TechPort record shows: "Advanced To" (Aug 2013, partner: Other). This indicates the technology was recognized as progressing but the linked partner/project is generic ("Other"). No follow-on FO project. No SBIR. No further TechPort record.

PI: Mark Shelhamer

Shelhamer is a major figure in space human factors research: - Professor, JHU Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery - Director, JHU Human Spaceflight Lab (jhuhsl.space) - Former NASA HRP Chief Scientist (2013–2016) — oversaw all human research for spaceflight during critical Artemis planning period - Book chapter (Jan 2025): "Building a Space-Faring Civilization: Advancing the Renaissance of Science, Medicine and Human Performance in Civilian Spaceflight" (Elsevier) - npj Microgravity paper (Dec 2025): co-author on recent publication in Nature's microgravity journal - Co-I Michael Schubert: professor in same department, vestibular rehabilitation and sensorimotor neuroscience

Career trajectory: Shelhamer's FO project was one small element in a decades-long vestibular neuroscience career. The HRP Chief Scientist role (2013–2016, overlapping with the FO project) gave him institutional influence far beyond any single experiment. His JHU Human Spaceflight Lab continues vestibular research through institutional grants, not startup commercialization.

Assessment

Archetype: Deep Academic Research (Archetype 16) — patent + publications, PI career enhanced, no commercial spinoff.

Signal strength: Low-Medium for FO-specific downstream impact, High for PI career/institutional impact. The VAN/TAN technique is a legitimate clinical research tool, but it hasn't spawned a commercial product, a startup, or additional NASA flight projects. Shelhamer's impact on NASA comes through his HRP Chief Scientist role and his broader research program, not through this specific FO project.

What FO provided: The only terrestrial way to test vestibular function assessment in altered gravity. Parabolic flight gave the ~20-second microgravity windows needed to validate VAN/TAN. Ground-based alternatives (tilt rooms, centrifuges) don't replicate the otolith response to true free fall.

Comparison to similar FO medical projects: - Henry Ford Health — institutional backing led to global clinical impact (45K+ physicians trained). Different scale. - Orbital Medicine — proof of concept only, no ISS deployment. Similar outcome scale. - MGH NINscan — stronger downstream (NINscan-SE in clinical wiki, BRAIN-SANS suite). More institutional investment post-FO. - Vital Space Team — PI pivoted to consumer health. Similar in that PI career succeeded independently of FO technology.

Time dimension: - 2010: Patent filed (pre-FO) - 2012–2015: FO parabolic flights - 2013: "Advanced To" outcome logged - 2013–2016: PI serves as NASA HRP Chief Scientist - 2017: Peer-reviewed publication - 2025–present: PI continues vestibular research at JHU (institutional funding)

Verification

  • Sample size: 1 FO project; 1 patent; 1 peer-reviewed publication; 1 "Advanced To" outcome
  • Queries: techport_get_project [12195]; web search Shelhamer JHU vestibular spaceflight
  • Evidence: TechPort record; US patent 9072481; J Neuroscience Methods 2017 paper; JHU Human Spaceflight Lab website; Wikipedia (Mark Shelhamer); Elsevier 2025 book chapter
  • Counter-query: Did the VAN/TAN technique get adopted by NASA for operational astronaut screening? Not confirmed — the technique appears in research literature but no evidence of operational adoption for crew medical assessments.
  • Confidence: Confirmed (FO validation, patent, publication). Operational adoption is unconfirmed.

Cross-References