Medical Imaging News
Medical Imaging News
December 6, 2006
NASA Uses 3D Imaging to Study the Impact of Space Travel on the Human Heart
To learn how space travel affects the hearts of Space Shuttle astronauts, the Natioal Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will be making use of the iE33 echocardiography system and QLAB Quantification software. Both solutions are manufactured by Philips Medical Systems.
Of particular interest to researchers is the loss of heart mass that commonly was thought to be a result of prolonged space flight. Images captured in 2D reveal a 5% decrease, which usually returns within 3 days of being back on Earth. The cause for these changes is unknown—something with which NASA feels the 3D ultrasound system will be able to help.
“We have a very short window of time in which to do an echo exam on the astronauts,” said David S. Martin of Wyle Laboratories Inc, ultrasound lead for the NASA Cardiovascular Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Possible explanations for loss of heart mass include heart atrophy caused by weightlessness, dehydration from space travel, or error caused by the geometric assumptions used in 2D echo. “Live 3D Echo allows us to quickly grab all the image data we need to do a full examination of the heart anatomy and function and send the astronauts on their way. Following the image acquisition, we use offline analysis software to do several measurements that help us evaluate changes after space travel.”
Philips Medical’s iE33 is able to capture a full-volume image of the beating heart in less than a minute and allows physicians to examine the heart as if they were holding it in their hands. It will allow researchers to make accurate measurements of heart mass, ejection fraction, blood flow, strain rate, and cardiac wall motion both pre- and post-flight.
The technology also will be employed in the near future with astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) and ground-based analogs. It also complements imaging done by a modified Philips Medical HDI 5000. The ultrasound system was installed in the ISS’s Human Research Facility in 2001.
Another NASA project recently took off—literally. On October 25, NASA launched STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory), its the third mission in NASA's Solar Terrestrial Probes (STP) program.
STEREO is a 2-year mission using stereoscopic (3D) vision to construct a global picture of the sun and its influences. The goal is to provide the first-ever stereoscopic measurements to study the Sun and the nature of its coronal mass ejections. STEREO's results also will help predict when space weather events will affect the Earth.
Two simultaneously orbiting spacecraft will rely on image sensors from e2v Technologies plc to capture 3D images of the Sun, providing a world-first view of the Sun-Earth relationship from sideways on.
e2v’s products serve three distinct markets: medical and science; aerospace and defense; and commercial and industrial.
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