Informatics-based medical procedure assistance during space missions.

Area of Science:

• Space medicine
• Human factors in aerospace
• Medical informatics

Background:

• Current methods for astronaut medical care rely on paper or electronic resources and Earth-based physician consultations.
• Telecommunications delays during long-duration space missions limit the effectiveness of remote medical support.
• Astronauts face risks, such as decompression sickness during extra-vehicular activities, requiring timely and accurate medical interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and describe GuideView, an experimental technology for in-flight medical support.
• To present a structured, interactive, and multi-modal format for clinical guidelines.
• To demonstrate the application of GuideView for diagnosing and treating space-related medical conditions.

Main Methods:

• GuideView presents clinical guidelines in a structured, interactive, multi-modal format.
• Simultaneous delivery of instructions via voice, text, pictures, video, or animations at each step.
• An example application was developed for the diagnosis and treatment of space Decompression Sickness.

Main Results:

• The GuideView system offers a novel approach to delivering clinical information to astronauts.
• The multi-modal format enhances understanding and adherence to medical protocols.
• The system is designed to mitigate challenges posed by communication latency.

Conclusions:

• GuideView has the potential to significantly improve medical care for astronauts during space missions.
• The technology can empower astronauts to manage medical conditions autonomously.
• Further development and testing are warranted to validate its efficacy in diverse spaceflight scenarios.