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Wireless telemetry and Internet technologies for medical management: a Martian analogy
B M Harnett1, C R Doarn, K M Russell
1Department of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298-0519, USA. brett.harnett@vcu.edu
Background:
The NASA Haughton-Mars Project Base Camp on Devon Island, Canada (approximately 75 degrees north) was the site for transmission of vital signs from two "terranauts" (individuals who acted as Earthbound astronauts) back to the United States in (artificially delayed) real-time.
Methods:
The subjects became "physiologic ciphers" for status monitoring using readily available technologies that affordably captured and distributed vital signs to a variety of platforms. This study of nominal monitoring and simulated medical emergency used wireless technologies and the Internet.
Results:
Basic vital signs and images can be sent using wireless topologies and completely automated functions. Due to the lightweight transport requirements, existing low data rate connections can easily handle the volume of traffic.
Conclusions:
Monitoring, the health of space travelers will be an important component for both low-Earth orbiting spacecraft and long-term missions to distant planets. However, terrestrial applications represent the primary application of such technologies because the home can be a remote and hazardous environment as well.