Company
Portfolio Data
Back to Company SearchCITY LABS, INC.
UEI: LD55BB3D8EM7
Number of Employees: 8
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
SBIR/STTR Involvement
Year of first award: 2018
5
Phase I Awards
8
Phase II Awards
160%
Conversion Rate
$546,604
Phase I Dollars
$9,796,396
Phase II Dollars
$10,343,000
Total Awarded
Awards
Nuclear Beta Emitter Ion Engine for Small Satellites - Phase II
Amount: $1,250,000 Topic: AFX235-CSO1
This Phase II effort is a collaboration between City Labs and the University of Michigan to develop a nuclear beta emitter ion engine for small satellites. Focused on enhancing mission capabilities and longevity, the project addresses the challenges of power limitations and inadequate propulsion solutions in small satellite platforms like CubeSats. Small satellites, pivotal in modern space operations for their cost-efficiency and quick deployment, face constraints due to their minimal power capacity and size. These limitations hinder their propulsion options, affecting mission scope and duration. The proposed nuclear beta emitter ion engine is a groundbreaking solution, designed to operate within the power limitations of small satellites. It integrates advancements in tritium nuclear technology and plasma propulsion to provide an optimized balance of specific impulse (500 s to 3,000 s) and thrust (?1 mN), necessary for sustained operations and maneuverability in space. Key components of the project include: 1) Enhancing tritium density in the engine's injection sources, improving efficiency while minimizing size. 2) Conducting theoretical and practical assessments of propulsion effectiveness through modeling and laboratory demonstrations. 3) Evaluating various propellants to optimize engine performance for different mission requirements. 4) Ensuring the engine's capability for extended missions with efficient power use and thrust generation. This Phase II effort will culminate with a laboratory demonstration of the thrusting capability of the nuclear ion engine.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2024
DOD
USAF
Leadless Pacemaker Betavoltaic Power Source
Amount: $251,156 Topic: NHLBI
PROJECT SUMMARY Lithium-based batteries have reached a technological limit of ~0.6 cc for use in leadless cardiac pacemaker (LCP) applications and a useful life of only 7-10 years1. The 0.6 cc volume comprises over 60% of the LCP’s total volume and is a technological miniaturization limit to LCPs. City Labs is developing a small betavoltaic power source with sufficient current density to power a pulse generator circuit. The battery’s volume can be as small as 0.1 cc, while providing a consistent ≥3.8 μW for 20 years. This size reduction would allow for an LCP to be implanted in the atria, permitting multi-chamber leadless pacing for patients previously relegated to conventional pacemakers. Furthermore, a decrease in size grants both the manufacturer of delivery catheters and the clinicians operating them a higher degree of flexibility, both in developing the device design process and implantation protocol, even permitting multiple LCPs in a single chamber. A longer-lived pacemaker also expands the potential use of LCPs to younger demographics. LCPs’ retrieval is difficult, so they are often used in patients who are not projected to outlive the device2,3. We will be designing and manufacturing a polyimide-based package that will be biocompatible and safe. It will fit in a leadless pacemaker’s titanium housing, providing double encapsulation. The project goal is to make the most reliable polyimide device configuration and manufacturing approach for transition to market approval with the pacemaker manufacturing partner. We propose a research and development optimization of industrial production methods necessary to ensure consistent and controlled scale-up manufacturing according to recognized quality standards and FDA requirements. City Labs has developed and utilized helium generation and leak models for the predictive design of packaging and components indicative of measured values. Model and measured data will undergo rigorous tuning and analysis under this CRP to ensure adequate predictability and tolerance for diffusion rates in a polyimide package. Furthermore, all packages will be tested to ensure they meet the designed leak rate. The final optimization of the prototype entails the sealing of end caps, feedthroughs, wall thickness, and leak rates associated with components and sealing processes. We will quantify the component and sealing process leak rates with a helium leak detector. This will enable us to produce a package, with controlled hermeticity and minimized volume, from components fabricated in-house, like additively manufactured end caps and specialized electrical contacts. To fabricate and seal such polyimide components, we will acquire and customize an advanced 3-D printer capable of manipulating high performance thermoplastics. The CRP effort will support development needed to harmonize the modeling, prototyping, and manufacturing processes. This project aims to develop the manufacturing capability and commercialization maturity our pacemaker manufacturing partners require.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2024
HHS
NIH
Tritium-Powered Nanowatt Crypto Key Retention and Security COMSEC System that Requires No Battery Replacement for Life of Equipment
Amount: $1,250,000 Topic: AFX234-DCSO2
The Air Force needs COMSEC devices that do not require battery replacement for their battery-backed key retention and security. City Labs is proposing the adaptation of its Model P100 tritium betavoltaic power source along with an adapted version of L3Har
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2023
DOD
USAF
NanoTritium Betavolatic Power Systems - TACFI
Amount: $376,250 Topic: J201-CSO1
In summary, the effort will improve City Labs’ tritium power source to provide long-term power for small space satellites. The stacking methodology for robust assembly of devices with multiple layers of metal hydride and semiconductor material will be enhanced in this project. The effort will also result in an adequate helium diffusion mechanism in the electronic package which will enable the use of higher amounts of tritium in the power source devices. City Labs is the only licensed manufacturer of betavoltaic power sources which carries a General License allowing distribution to anyone in the United States without requiring the recipient to possess a radiation license. The proposed tritium betavoltaic power source will meet the AF customers’ requirement for an ultra-small, temperature resilient, continuous 5-10 year power capability.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2023
DOD
USAF
Tritium Battery AA Form-Factor for Continuous 20+ Year Operation for COMSEC Crypto Key Security
Amount: $75,000 Topic: AFX235-CSO1
The AFLCMC needs a battery to provide a lifetime of continuous power to COMSEC devices for its backup key retention and security. The proposed adaptation of City Labs’ tritium betavoltaic battery (Model P100) power source will provide consistent power (at
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2023
DOD
USAF
Nuclear Beta Emitter Ion Engine for Small Satellites
Amount: $75,000 Topic: AFX235-CSO1
Satellites continue to be miniaturized to mitigate cost and procurement cycle times. Additionally, smaller satellites enable missions not feasible with larger satellites. For example, multi-point-simultaneous global sensing is achievable via constellation
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2023
DOD
USAF
Self-Powered Wireless Autonomous Imaging Sensor for Satellites
Amount: $1,700,000 Topic: AFX234-DCSO1
Space Force needs an autonomous self-powered imaging sensor with onboard processing capabilities and wireless communication for satellites that can operate continuously under broad temperature conditions for the life of the space vehicle. The ability to a
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2023
DOD
USAF
Tritium Power Source for Small CubeSats P2
Amount: $850,000 Topic: J201-CSO1
The Air Force has a need for a compact sized power source (≤ 35 cc’s) for ultrasmall satellites (e.g. femtosatellites) that can provide continuous power for 5-10 years under broad temperature conditions while operating in the dark (i.e., no exposure to l
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2021
DOD
USAF
Leadless Pacemaker Betavoltaic Power Source
Amount: $3,368,990 Topic: NHLBI
PROJECT ABSTRACT Leadless cardiac pacemakers (LCPs) represent a revolutionary leap forward in cardiac pacing technology because they circumvent transvenous leads. The current size of lithium-carbon mono-fluoride (Li/CFX) batteries results in an overall LCP device size of ~1 cc, and which only has a 10-year lifetime. LCPs are currently limited to single-chamber pacing, representing only 10-20% of current pacemaker users. To achieve dual-chamber and multi-chamber leadless pacing, a size reduction of the LCP is required. However, smaller batteries are required to shrink the LCP. This Phase 2 effort will result in a betavoltaic battery for LCPs that is one-sixth the size of Li/CFX batteries, enabling LCPs with a size of less than half the current LCP. Additionally, this new battery technology will have greater than twice the energy capacity compared to Li/CFX batteries, and also will have double the LCP lifespan, to a 20-year lifetime. This size reduction and increased longevity will allow for 2-3 implants over a patient’s lifetime, with minimal invasive overhead, facilitating mainstream use of LCPs, while challenging traditional pacemakers. Dual or multi-chamber LCPs will dramatically increase the use of LCPs but will require a ~0.1cc battery providing a consistent ≥3.8 microwatts for 20 years. Chemical-based batteries do not have the energy density or reliability to meet this requirement, which the City Labs NanoTritiumTM betavoltaic medical implant battery will effectively address. In Phase 2 the construction of the LCP betavoltaic battery will comprise stacking ultrathin III-V betavoltaic cells that utilize a new, high beta-flux, tritium metal hydride film. The betavoltaic battery will be ~0.1 cc with ≥14.9 microwatts power at beginning-oflife and have a 20-year projected life at ≥ 3.8 microwatts. Phase 1 data shows that the target power density for a ~ 0.1 cc LCP battery will be reached, resulting in a power density sufficient to meet pacemaker manufacturers’ performance goals, resulting in continuous power output for 20 years within a ~0.1 cc formfactor. Tritium betavoltaic technology is a solid- state power source that does not lose energy density with decreasing size, which occurs with lithium batteries. Its principles of operation are similar to a solar cell, but in place of photons impinging on the semiconductor cell, the electrons from the radioisotope’s beta decay are utilized. In the NHLBI SBIR Phase 2, City Labs will construct a tritium betavoltaic battery consisting of ultra-thin stacked betavoltaic cell layers in a cylindrical form factor for easy insertion into a leadless pacemaker package and deliver it to a pacemaker manufacturer to assess overall system performance. Post Phase 2, integrated FDA testing and certification of the joint LCP and betavoltaic will be performed by the pacemaker manufacturer through a Premarket Approval. A bioinert package with electrical feedthroughs will be constructed. Packaging of the cell stack, sealing, and electrical/regulatory testing will be performed. Milestone: Delivery of the betavoltaic within a ~0.1cc package to pacemaker manufacturer for testing and inclusion into a leadless pacemaker.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase II
2021
HHS
NIH
Tritium Power Source for Small CubeSats
Amount: $50,000 Topic: J201-CSO1
City Labs’ tritium power source, NanoTritiumTM P100 betavoltaic battery, provides continuous low power for decades. The power solution was commercialized by City Labs over 8 years ago and has been purchased for memory backup, low power sensors, and research applications. The Model P100 has been tested by independent third parties to extreme temperatures of -55°C to 150°C. Chemical based batteries cannot operate on such a wide temperature range making the Model P100 unique among small power sources. Recently, the Air Force has been investigating solutions for powering CubeSats for defense application. These satellites can be as small as a cell phone and need a small power source that can handle wide temperature conditions. Unfortunately, solar cells are not sufficient for this Air Force requirement due to the relatively small size of these satellites and concomitant lack of attitude control for solar power harvesting, and temperature control for secondary batteries. What is needed is a small, long-term, temperature independent, power solution. The enhanced Model P100 will be a diminutive power source that can handle extreme temperatures while providing long-term, continuous power for an Air Force CubeSat.
Tagged as:
SBIR
Phase I
2020
DOD
USAF