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Orbital Medicine, Inc.

Location: Midlothian, VA (3800 Old Gun Road W)
Type: Industry (micro-company / consulting spinoff)
FO Projects: 12196
Outcome Category: Proof of concept only — no ISS certification, no commercial product
Confidence: Confirmed (no downstream found after thorough search)

Summary

Orbital Medicine is a small medical device consulting firm founded by Dr. Charles Cuttino, an emergency medicine physician with NASA heritage (medical support for Space Shuttle at KSC, 1995–1998). The FO project evaluated a modified chest drainage device — designed to treat pneumothorax (collapsed lung) in microgravity where gravity-dependent fluid drainage fails. Testing progressed from parabolic flights (FO project 12196) to a Blue Origin New Shepard flight (December 12, 2017), and the device demonstrated functionality in zero-G. Despite reaching TRL6, no ISS certification has been found, no commercial product exists, and the company pivoted to space medical consulting.

Timeline:

  • 2012: Orbital Medicine, Inc. founded; Dr. Cuttino PI
  • 2012–2015: FO project 12196 — parabolic flight testing of modified chest drainage system (TRL4→6)
  • 2015: TechPort "Advanced To" outcome record (partner: Other) — unidentified follow-on
  • November 2015: Selected for additional NASA Flight Opportunities grant (Blue Origin)
  • December 12, 2017: Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital flight — demonstrated Evolved Medical Microgravity Suction Device (EMMSD)
  • Post-2017: Company pivots to consulting; planning SpaceConsults.com platform
  • As of 2026: Dr. Cuttino is Chairman of Emergency Medicine at Henrico Doctors' Hospitals (Richmond VA)
  • No ISS deployment confirmed; no product commercialization found

TechPort Record: 12196

  • Title: Evaluation of Medical Chest Drainage System
  • Program: Flight Opportunities
  • Period: 2012-05-10 – 2015-05-10
  • TRL: 4 → 6 (target 6)
  • PI: Charles M. Cuttino
  • Lead Org: Orbital Medicine, Inc.
  • Description: No working thoracic drainage system exists for the space operational environment. Terrestrial models require upright orientation (gravity-dependent). This project modified existing FDA-approved medical components into a configuration functional in zero-G. Tested in parabolic flight.
  • Outcome records: 1 × "Advanced To | 2015-06-01 | partner: Other" — relatedProjectId: null (per FO structural norm)
  • Library items: None in TechPort record

Note: The Blue Origin New Shepard flight (December 2017) is from a second FO project: 71978 — "Evolved Medical Microgravity Suction Device" (see section below).

Device Description

The Evolved Medical Microgravity Suction Device (EMMSD) combines: - An FDA-approved pleural drainage system - Modified suction mechanism that doesn't rely on gravity - Novel configuration enabling function in any orientation

The medical need is real: a traumatic chest injury in space could be fatal without drainage. The device addresses a genuine gap. The problem is operational: ISS medical protocols are conservative, and a device needs extensive qualification before crew use.

USASpending Awards

No awards found for Orbital Medicine, Inc. on USASpending.gov. This is consistent with a very small company operating on FO service contracts (which appear under the FO program office, not the recipient company).

Assessment

This is the FO "long tail" case — a physician-entrepreneur who identified a real need, secured FO funding, demonstrated functionality, but couldn't navigate the path from TRL6 to operational deployment. The barriers are:

  1. ISS qualification is expensive and slow — even a TRL6 device needs extensive human factors, biocompatibility, and operational testing for ISS use
  2. Market size is tiny — the customer is NASA (ISS crew), and the addressable market for a space chest drainage device is small enough that it cannot fund a commercial company
  3. No institutional partner — without a prime contractor (like Orbital Sciences, Boeing, or a major medical device company) to carry the device through qualification, it stalls

Comparison with Henry Ford Health: Both are health-focused FO projects, but Henry Ford (94139) had TRL4→8, NASA Spinoff-type recognition, and demonstrable impact on ISS protocols. Orbital Medicine (12196) reached TRL6 via parabolic flight but couldn't cross the institutional gap to ISS.

Outcome type: Proof of concept only. Technology works but pathway to deployment is blocked.

Second FO Project: Evolved Medical Microgravity Suction Device (EMMSD)

FO Project: 71978 — Evolved Medical Microgravity Suction Device
Period: 2016-08-09 – 2019-03-26
TRL: 4 → 6
PI: Charles M. Cuttino (same PI as 12196)

[71978] is the direct successor to [12196]. The chest drainage project evolved into a broader medical suction device: "A thoracic drainage device with a 2-phase separator functional in the microgravity environment." The project plan called for parabolic flight validation followed by a suborbital flight — the Blue Origin New Shepard flight of December 12, 2017 is this suborbital test.

Combined Orbital Medicine FO portfolio: - 12196: Chest drainage device, TRL 4→6, 2012–2015, parabolic - 71978: Evolved suction device (EMMSD), TRL 4→6, 2016–2019, parabolic + New Shepard

Both projects achieved TRL 6 via parabolic flight. Neither progressed to ISS deployment or commercial certification. Same PI, same company, same outcome category: proof of concept only.

The two-project pattern shows Cuttino was persistent and received continued NASA support — suggesting the technology had technical merit — but persistent institutional barriers to deployment remained.

Open Threads

  • What was the "Advanced To" partner identified in the 2015 outcome record for [12196]? (JSC? a medical device company?)
  • Did the EMMSD influence any ISS medical contingency guidelines?

Sources

  • TechPort 12196 (live API, 2026-04-05)
  • USASpending.gov: No records for Orbital Medicine, Inc.
  • Web search: Orbital Medicine / Cuttino / EMMSD (2026-04-05)
  • NASA Armstrong: "NASA Funds Flight for Space Medical Technology on Blue Origin" (November 2015)
  • Blue Origin: "First Commercial Payloads Onboard New Shepard" (December 2017)
  • VACEP: "Startup Spotlight: Orbital Medicine" (profile of Cuttino and the company)
  • Orbital Medicine website: orbitalmedicine.com (still active as of 2026)