This device is part of a blood collection kit that was used for biomedical research. It appears to be a device for injecting or aspirating fluid in a volume set by the dial, using a pipette or syringe inserted through the open end, and operated by the levers. Eppendorf is a well-known manufacturer of precise laboratory instruments for life sciences research and produces a variety of fluid handling devices. Current product catalogs show more elaborate devices like this that are described as pipetting instruments.
NASA transferred a blood collection kit and other research equipment to the Museum when the Space Shuttle program ended in 2012. The kit may have been used for hematology, metabolic, hormonal, or immune system research in space.
Credit Line:
Transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
