On September 15, 2015, NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko clocked in for their 171st day aboard the International Space Station (ISS) www.nasa.gov/station. Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko are set to come home on March 3. 2016 after spending 342 days in space that will help researchers understand how humans react and adapt to long duration spaceflights.
To mark this historic occasion, Mark Kelly a retired astronaut and identical twin brother of Scott, Terry Virts also an astronaut and former Air Force pilot, along with John Hughes President of the National Press Club www.press.org talked to the astronauts on the ISS via a live video link from the Press Club. The crowd at the breakfast meeting www.press.org were treated to the conversation with Scott aboard the ISS and enjoyed hearing the details on how astronauts operate in space.
There can be a number of health issues affecting the body that can be altered by the space environment. Researchers are studying both Scott’s and Mark’s health for health problems such as bone loss and vision effects, along with other health issues, plus scientists are trying to have a better understanding of genetic issues as they relate to twins.
Another study on the ISS is looking at what happens when fluids shift into the upper body during weightlessness. This shift may cause changes in vision through increased intracranial pressure and needs to be resolved before humans begin exploring beyond our plant. The study uses the Russian Chibis device to draw fluids back into the legs while measurements of the subject’s eyes are taken to track any changes.
NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) www.nsbri.org which is a consortium of twelve public and private universities working together to study how to effectively create smart medical systems for human spaceflight.
In the NSBRI “Smart Medical Systems and Technology” (SMST) program, the focus is on key technology platforms which meet multiple objectives and mitigate multiple risks. A few areas of study are currently centering on near infrared spectroscopy and lab-on-a-chip technology.
The researchers are also studying how to successfully integrate multiple sensors and technology with intelligent software which will provide autonomous or semi-autonomous medical diagnosis and therapy while astronauts and future explorers travel to space.
At this time, the SMST team are also studying ways to perform complex ultrasound diagnostic testing to treat a variety of conditions in space. The focus is on developing an onboard catalog of laparoscopic and ultrasound images of internal organs under microgravity, developing an ultrasonic-based acoustic densitometer for real-time assessment of bone quality and density, plus developing a therapeutic system for assessing fractures and accelerating healing.
In addition, the researchers are developing a noninvasive sensor to measure muscle metabolic parameters to diagnose trauma, sensors to assess astronaut fitness, and examining ways to provide real-time metabolic rate monitoring during lunar surface explorations.
Together all of the experiments and research will produce benefits that will directly help people not only in space but also on Earth. The training techniques used for crew medical officers also has relevance for telemedicine applications to help remote patient populations on Earth.