In our last blog, we briefly discussed how the space environment may adversely affect astronauts’ health, making astronaut health maintenance a vital component for ensuring the success of any space mission. In our latest blog, we continue to elaborate on this topic by casting light on the various technologies that are presently in use and those that are in the pipeline to better understand the risks associated with human spaceflight and to help find countermeasures and treatments to identify, characterize, and mitigate the effects of space environment on astronauts’ health so that space travel can be made safer.
Despite comprehensive medical standards such as pre-mission screening for disease prevention, healthcare delivery during missions, long-term recovery and restoration of health post mission, astronauts continue to remain at risk for injury, ill health, and medical emergencies during spaceflight.
Scientists worldwide are studying the effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation via the ISS laboratory, which allows access to the unique space environment and makes it possible to conduct experiments aboard to:
- prepare for deep space destinations, and
- use the knowledge obtained to improve the quality of life on Earth.
However, it is not an easy task to conduct science experiments in space, because, to participate in these experiments, astronauts must use several medical devices, including electrocardiographs, blood pressure cuffs, fingertip oxygen saturation monitors, and ankle-bracelet activity sensors. These devices are often bulky, invasive, and their use can be disruptive and time-consuming. Moreover, these devices are designed to function in the Earth’s environment, with gravity, and may not necessarily function optimally in the space environment. Therefore, various technologies have been put to test with the goal of overcoming such hurdles. Outlined below is a list of the past, present, and future technologies tested via the ISS and innovations that could be used in space in the future.
Past technology:
Microflow: The first-of-its-kind to be tested aboard the ISS, microflow is a mini portable laboratory that can perform a wide range of bioanalyses. It was tested during Expedition-34 and was used to analyze the cells and hormones in blood and other biological samples.
Current technology:
Microgravity vibration isolation subsystem: This is an isolation system that prevents vibrations from skewing the results of any experiments.
Bioanalyzer: Tested in May 2019, the bioanalyzer is a tool used by astronauts to easily analyze different body fluids.
Biomonitor: This is a smart shirt that helps to monitor the vital signs of astronauts.
Future Technology:
Dextre-operated camera (DOC): This is an enhanced vision system for Dextre to inspect the outside of the ISS.
MicroPREP: This lab-on-a-chip technology used for sample purification has great potential for being used in space, particularly to support the medical diagnoses of astronauts during deep space exploration missions. It aims to create microfluidic chips in order to isolate specific blood markers that work in microgravity and to automate the process of purifying and preparing concentrated, standardized samples that could be used for analysis by standard technologies such as the bioanalyzer.
Bioanalyzer is a video-game-console-sized tool that astronauts aboard the ISS can use to easily test different body fluids and quickly provide test results from space (within two-three hours), thus reducing the need to freeze (as freezing causes cell damage) and return samples. It also supports the Canadian Immuno Profile science project where scientists could perform real-time analysis of blood cells and protein biomarkers aboard the ISS. Further, through the analysis of such data, researchers could develop the profile of a human immune system in space. Needless to say, this can provide new insights into the astronauts’ immune health system as they prepare for journeys deeper into space.
In December 2018, the biomonitor system was launched into space; it was a sleek all-in-one wearable technology replacing bigger equipment and was designed to fit into an astronaut’s daily routine aboard the ISS. This system was designed to monitor and record vital signs without interrupting the daily activities of astronauts and without needing significant time or attention. The system includes a smart shirt and dedicated tablet application that closely watch astronauts’ health and enable new science by continuously measuring physiological data and the following:
• pulse and electrical activity of the heart, • blood pressure, • breathing rate and volume, • skin temperature, • blood oxygen saturation, and • physical activity levels. Furthermore, these smart shirts can be worn while sleeping and exercising. The system is designed to easily send information to the Earth staff for the purpose of monitoring astronauts’ health round the clock as they orbit the planet. The Canadian experiment MARROW studied how the bone marrow and blood cells change in space. This experiment completed the final tests in June 2020, and the findings suggested that further research was warranted for fully understanding spaceflight-related anemia. Mitigating strategies such as an adapted diet may be necessary for astronauts embarking on longer missions. The vascular series grouping four Canadian science experiments into vascular, vascular echo, vascular aging, and vascular calcium studied the effects of weightlessness on astronauts’ blood vessels and hearts aboard the ISS. The study findings suggested that the astronauts’ daily exercise routine was insufficient for counteracting the effects of sedentariness caused by weightlessness on the body. Additionally, there is a need to develop a 3D bioprinter for the ISS that can be used for generating cell constructs in microgravity to provide samples for research such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This can potentially open up opportunities for modeling specific events or structures in microgravity. The space environment is a sufficiently novel environment and attempting to work in it often creates a demand for new tools and techniques. Since space can have tremendous effects on the human body, and as mankind prepares for journeys to more distant destinations such as Mars, there is a rising need to tackle these risks in order to ensure safe travel for modern explorers with the help of newer technologies that require detailed research study and experiments. Bioviser provides a reliable and efficient platform for data curation, statistical analysis and professional medical writing services in the field of space medicine, which can enhance the quality of research reporting and speed up the publication process.
