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A Method to Determine Capabilities and Resources for Spacecraft Medical Systems.
Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance
|June 25, 2024
Summary
A new method translates medical guidelines into actionable data for space mission planning. This approach enhances probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) tools for deep space medical system design.
Area of Science:
- Space Medicine
- Medical Informatics
- Risk Analysis
Background:
- Probabilistic risk analysis (PRA) has been used by NASA since 2011 for medical system design.
- Existing PRA tools are limited to low Earth orbit applications.
- Exploration-class missions require updated PRA tools for medical system planning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe a method for assigning medical capabilities and resources to a database for an updated PRA tool.
- To support medical system planning for exploration-class missions.
Main Methods:
- A multidisciplinary team of medical experts, including space medicine specialists, convened for 8 months.
- The team developed capability and resource tables (CRTs) for each medical condition.
- CRTs were informed by practice guidelines, literature, and expert experience.
Main Results:
- The process resulted in CRTs for each condition within the PRA tool database.
- A total of 617 distinct medical capabilities were identified.
- A total of 839 discrete medical resources were cataloged.
Conclusions:
- The CRT method effectively converts medical practice guidelines into usable data for PRA tools.
- This methodology is suitable for exploration-class medical system planning.
- The CRT method has potential applications in commercial space ventures and medical predictive analytics.
