Gizmodo has a fascinating story on an implant, the Biocapsule, developed by NASA to treat astronauts while they are on a space mission. The device, a small rod to be implanted under the skin before take-off, is made out of carbon nanotubes and is filled with cells that release a substance once a certain trigger activates them.

The cells are trapped withing the capsule, while substances are released by diffusion across the capsule wall, which is also the way nutritients can get in. The capsules could be capable of delivering multiple doses over a long period of time. The nanostructures are inert, making them well-tolerated by the body, and the Biocapsules themselves are inexpensive and easy to make.

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In space, nothing is as easy as it is on Earth, and an ill astronaut could pose a major problem to any space mission. For advanced diagnostis purposes, the International Space Station already carries an ultrasound device, but astronauts are generally not trained ultrasound operators. Also, a connection to ground-based expert help may involve unwieldy communication delays, so it is no surprise space agencies are looking into ways to make future space travellers more self-sufficient.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is working on an augmented reality system that will help astronauts better diagnose medical problems in space. The Computer Assisted Medical Diagnosis and Surgery System, CAMDASS as it is strangely called, is a wearable augmented reality system with a head-mounted display that merges actual and virtual reality by precisely combining computer-generated graphics with the wearer’s view.

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How do you weigh someone in a zero gravity space station?  Well, you don’t, because their weight is zero.  But mass is ever-present and measuring it can be a difficult proposition without gravity. Currently a motorized chair on springs is used that measures how a person bounces when sitting on it.

Researchers from Eurecom in Alpes-Maritimes, France and Italian Institute of Technology’s Center for Human Space Robotics in Torino have developed a method that relies on a Microsoft Kinect 3D video camera to calculate the volume of a person in front of it and using statistics to turn that into an estimated mass measurement.

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The medication locker for a long term space flight may need to be larger than currently thought, a study in the The AAPS Journal concludes. One of the first publications from the Stability of Pharmacotherapeutic and Nutritional Compounds (Stability) project determined that after 28 months of storage on the International Space Station some medications degraded faster than controls stored in as similar environment as possible on the ground.

One of the authors, Lakshmi Putcha, Ph.D, said the differences between the ground and control environments “include, but are not limited to, ambient radiation, excessive vibrational forces, multiple gravity environments and carbon dioxide enrichment; this is in addition to unconventional packaging, resupply operations and other unknowns.”

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Researchers from Lousiana Tech University and NASA will be testing an experimental DNA analyzer under zero gravity conditions this month during parabolic flight testing. The objective of the test is to understand how the instrument behaves in low-gravity conditions. The DNA analyzer was identified by NASA  for possible use on the International Space Station or during unmanned operations, as it was designed to be small, low powered and requires minimal user interaction.

It is hoped that the analyzer may shed some light on the effects of cosmic radiation on the DNA of living organisms.

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Included in NASA’s last space shuttle mission to the International Space Station is a novel filtration bag that uses forward osmosis technology to clean water.

Project researchers hope to be able to turn regular old urine into a refreshing beverage, and the bag already filters everything but urea. The team hopes to add a carbon filter to the bag to overcome this problem.

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The penultimate voyage of NASA’s fabled space shuttle program commences tomorrow afternoon, and inside the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Endeavour is a device whose data will affect future generations of astronauts to the final frontier.
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, is a device consisting of a two ton magnet and five detectors, that will be installed on the International Space Station. Scientists hope that the AMS will help them learn more about antimatter and dark matter. Spacecraft engineers, however, are eager to see how the powerful magnetic fields generated by the AMS repel harmful particles of cosmic radiation. The magnetic fields generated by the AMS act as a shield, deflecting any particles or rays that come near it, much in the same way the Earth’s magnetic field deflects cosmic radiation from harming the planet. The AMS will also measure the amount of cosmic energy and the type of radiation detected in space. In whole, the AMS will help provide scientists a better picture of the kind of environment astronauts will face on future explorations, and will help engineers design equipment that will adequately protect these astronauts from the potentially harsh radiation levels in space.

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In the midst of the various beer, snack, and car commercials that aired this past Sunday during the Super Bowl, one stood out from all the rest. No, it didn’t involve talking babies, monkeys clothed in business attire, or scantily-clad web hosting spokeswomen. But what this TV spot showed could affect the way astronauts work in the dangers of outer space.
NASA, in partnership with General Motors, showed off the Robonaut 2, or R2 dexterous humanoid robot. Its fully-functional hands allow it to perform similar tasks and use the same tools that human astronauts use, but also includes the latest in leading edge control, sensor and vision technologies that allow it to do far more than human astronauts.

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Medgadget editor Paul Pisklak, M.D., an anesthesia resident at Baylor, is attending the annual meeting of Society for Technology in Anesthesia. Here’s his first report.
The keynote speaker at this year’s Society for Technology in Anesthesia conference at The Venetian in Las Vegas was Colonel Jim Bagian, M.D., P.E., a physician and astronaut. Dr. Bagian gave a talk cleverly entitled “Patient Safety: It’s Not Rocket Science.” His unique broad view of the aviation and healthcare industries gives him a special insight into the subject at hand.

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The Chilean mine rescue was a great example of international cooperation and effort, much like the International Space Station. Another similarity between the two was some of the physicians involved. JD Polk and other Flight Surgeons at NASA had, years ago, made a contingency plan for how to make the limited Space Station food stores last for months if there was a problem with re-supply. So, when the Chilean government asked if NASA had any advice for how to care for the miners trapped in a similar resource limited setting, Dr. Polk and a team went down to help and MedPage Today wrote up a great summary of their efforts.

“We had worked through the data, the decreased calories, the refeeding plan, and many of the things involved in this particular mine rescue” for the Hubble mission, Polk explained.

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