B-LiFE: Biological Light Fieldable Laboratory for Emergency
Crisis Management Services Enhanced by Space Assets
The successful management of sanitary crises relies on the ability to perform rapid detection and identification of pathogens. National and international agencies dealing with the response to bio-security crises need rapidly deployable capacities carrying out analyses close to the crisis area, and equipped with autonomous transmission and geo-location capabilities. The B-LiFE system contributes to fill this gap.
The B-LiFE system is delivering an integrated service by using a set of analytical tools able to support the provision of a rapid assessment of bio-threats present in the environment where the bio-laboratory is deployed, near a field hospital or an improvised treatment center in case of any public health crisis.
The B-LiFE system is receiving information and field samples for analysis and delivers at the end the results to the stakeholder/customer. For an optimal interaction with the stakeholder supervising the global crisis management system at distant and local level, all relevant information (i.e. medical, epidemiological, biological...) are delivered in a timely manner to the right stakeholder, with accurate geo-location information and in a secured way through an autonomous and robust multi-modal telecommunication system.
Therefore the B-LiFE system integrates space technologies, i.e. satellite telecommunications, combined with terrestrial telecommunication (TETRA and LTE),听stakeholders and end users, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) for geo-location and Earth Observation for site selection and monitoring. B-LiFE is also equipped with management tools (LIMS, decision support software鈥�).
The B-LiFE system is regularly deployed in national and international exercises. The last operational deployment was the support of an Ebola Treatment Unit in Guinea (N鈥橺EREKORE) during the last Ebola outbreak in West-Africa (2014-2015).
Following the Ebola mission B-LiFE is registered in the European Medical Corps (EMC) belonging to the European Emergency response Capacity (EERC) within the frame of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism (EUCPM). Through this mechanism, teams and equipment from the EU Member States are rapidly deployed to provide worldwide medical assistance and public health expertise in response to national and international emergencies.
The B-LiFE Demonstration Project (2014-2020) is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) - Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) - Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) - Business Application Program.
The B-LiFE project is realized by experienced partners from three countries under UCLOUVAIN/CTMA lead:
- Belgium: , , , ;
- Grand Duchy of Luxemburg: ;
- The Netherlands: .
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