Results for “Medical Imaging” — Page 16

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Clinical Decision Support: Path to Functional Requirements

Long-duration, deep-space exploration missions present significant challenges to crew health and performance. These challenges include the individual and combined effects of microgravity, radiation exposure, isolation, limited resources (mass, volume, power, data and crew time), limited options for evacuation and those associated with delayed or constrained communications, all of which demand greater crew autonomy. Specifically, as the communication delays intensify the further we explore space, the unqualified need for Earth-independent medical operations focused on autonomous diagnosis, treatment and prevention will be key to mission continuation and success. To augment the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) of a time-constrained crew operating under stressful conditions, combatting fatigue, and facing a potential medical crisis, a robust clinical decision support system (CDSS) is a probable solution that would facilitate, guide and inform Earth-independent medical operations, while assisting crewmembers through various clinical presentations. The Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element of the Human Research Program (HRP) is expanding the boundaries of space medical systems to advance the care of astronauts on future exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit. ExMC is actively identifying and testing next-generation medical care and crew health maintenance technologies. The Clinical Decision Support (CDS) project addresses gap Medical-701 within the Inflight Medical Conditions risk: “Enhance medical capabilities within an exploration medical system.” Though mass, volume, and power will face increasing constraints, the projected computational capabilities of spacecraft systems will increase exponentially as information technology continues to advance this decade and beyond. Hence, data, software and computational resources will play an essential and synergistic role in maintaining crew health, wellness and performance in deep space missions. The focus of the CDS project is to develop recommended requirements for an in-vehicle CDSS that acts as a ‘virtual assistant’ for delivering optimal health, performance and medical care during exploration missions. The CDSS is envisioned as an integrated, software-based tool deployed on a laptop computer or handheld device. The CDSS will assist the crew and ground support when interacting with knowledge/databases (e.g. records, pharmacy, schedule), instrumentation (e.g. imaging, physiological monitoring devices), and habitat (e.g. wellness system, task performance system) and vehicle systems (e.g. environmental system, communication system). In addition, the human interface will employ a context-based approach that accounts for the crew’s situation. Thus, extraneous and clinically/operationally non-relevant information are reduced to avoid an increase in cognitive load. The framework of an ideal spaceflight CDSS is to include core and advanced analytical features that incorporate work from collaborators yet maintain a flexible platform for integrating new technology in the future. In fiscal year 2021 (FY21), the CDS project identified requirements through two primary mechanisms: (i) the development of software implementation prototypes and (ii) the application of systems engineering processes. The CDS project developed and tested a series of increasingly complex system prototypes that were based on use cases derived from the CDSS concept of operations (ConOps). These software implementations yielded insights on CDSS functionality as well as lessons learned that provided the initial requirements for CDSS capability. By applying a systems engineering (SE) approach, medical scenarios provided in the ConOps and the use cases for software implementation underwent functional decomposition to identify CDSS functionality. Also, systems-based modeling language (SysML) tools such as activity diagrams were developed from the same ConOps and use cases to identify CDSS functionality. The lessons learned from software implementation defined both specific requirements and broad areas of requirements. Within these defined broad requirement areas, further analysis of the SE products identified specific capability that resulted in the final functional requirements. In summary, the software prototypes, functional decomposition of the ConOps and use cases, and SysML diagrams provided the basis for the CDSS requirements developed in FY21. In the upcoming year, these requirements will be refined for their final ExMC baseline review in latter FY22.

Clinical decision support↗

NASA NTRS1967

Digital computer processing of X-ray photos

Digital computers correct various distortions in medical and biological photographs. One of the principal methods of computer enhancement involves the use of a two-dimensional digital filter to modify the frequency spectrum of the picture. Another computer processing method is image subtraction.

Nathan, R.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Integration of visual and motion cues for simulator requirements and ride quality investigation

Preliminary tests and evaluation are presented of pilot performance during landing (flight paths) using computer generated images (video tapes). Psychophysiological factors affecting pilot visual perception were measured. A turning flight maneuver (pitch and roll) was specifically studied using a training device, and the scaling laws involved were determined. Also presented are medical studies (abstracts) on human response to gravity variations without visual cues, acceleration stimuli effects on the semicircular canals, and neurons affecting eye movements, and vestibular tests.

Young, L. R.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Multi-Faceted Approach to Demonstrating Multi-Functional Integrated Medical Devices to Advance Earth-Independent Medical Operations

INTRODUCTION TO MIM DEVICES Multi-functional Integrated Medical (MIM) devices conveniently incorporate multiple medical system capabilities within one device. The NASA Exploration Medical Integrated Product Team (XM-IPT) sponsored a market survey and trade study which identified the Tempus ProTM and the LifeBot 10® as the MIM devices that best met the evaluation criteria of the trade study. The Tempus ProTM (Remote Diagnostic Technologies, Ltd., Philips Corp., Farnborough, UK) and LifeBot 10® (LifeBot Health, Chicago, IL) both provide vital sign measurements such as blood pressure, electrocardiograms, heart rate, end tidal CO2, respiration rate, pulse oximetry and temperature along with ultrasound imaging. A video laryngoscopy capability is unique to the Tempus ProTM, while the LifeBot 10® supports connectivity with a digital stethoscope, otoscope, eye exam camera, and dermatoscope. Both devices include procedural guidance capabilities and have various data transmission and report generation features. TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATIONS NASA’s exploration-class missions will have severe resource constraints, long return trip durations, significant communication delays, and limited resupply opportunities. The medical systems of these missions will need to fit within an Earth-Independent Medical Operations (EIMO) construct. Key features of an EIMO medical system include: 1) technologies that support the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of spaceflight medical events; 2) components that meet mass, volume, power and crew time/training constraints; 3) consideration of the medical skill level of the astronaut caregiver; 4) collection, storage and analysis of medical data within a central data architecture; and 5) incorporation of appropriate guidance and support tools that allow crew autonomy. Evaluations are underway to determine if it will be beneficial to include MIM devices within exploration medical systems by conducting a series of planned technical demonstrations. Exploration Atmosphere Chamber studies are being performed to determine MIM functionality in a high oxygen concentration atmosphere. A side-by-side comparison of the Tempus ProTM and LifeBot 10® will be performed during ground-based demonstrations. Use of the MIM devices within an EIMO medical scenario simulation will be practiced during ground-based demonstrations in preparation for International Space Station (ISS) demonstrations of the MIM device. These various demonstrations are designed to gather evidence for or against the inclusion of MIM devices within an EIMO medical system. EXPECTED DEMONSTRATION OUTCOMES Information will be gained about the feasibility, benefits, and challenges of using a multifunctional, all-in-one, medical device for medical diagnosis. Information will also be collected about performance differences as available ground support decreases. Gaining this understanding will allow for further development of exploration medical system capabilities, which take the EIMO construct into consideration.

B. E. Lewandowski↗

NASA NTRS1991

NASA spinoffs to bioengineering and medicine

Through the active transfer of technology, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Technology Utilization (TU) Program assists private companies, associations, and government agencies to make effective use of NASA's technological resources to improve U.S. economic competitiveness and to provide societal benefit. Aerospace technology from areas such as digital image processing, space medicine and biology, microelectronics, optics and electrooptics, and ultrasonic imaging have found many secondary applications in medicine. Examples of technology spinoffs are briefly discussed to illustrate the benefits realized through adaptation of aerospace technology to solve health care problems. Successful implementation of new technologies increasingly requires the collaboration of industry, universities, and government, and the TU Program serves as the liaison to establish such collaborations with NASA. NASA technology is an important resource to support the development of new medical products and techniques that will further advance the quality of health care available in the U.S. and worldwide.

Biomedical Engineering/instrumentation/trends↗

NASA NTRS1981

NASA: Biomedical applications team

The status of projects involving the adaptation of NASA technologies for medical purposes is reviewed. Devices for the measurement of joint deformation of arthritic hands, the development of an artificial pancreas, provision of an auditory signal to avert epileptic seizures, are described along with the control of medication levels, a compressed air tank to supply power for field dentistry, and an electroencephalogram monitor. The use of the Lixiscope as a portable fluoroscope, thermal laminates for hand and foot warmers for patients with Raynaud's syndrome, and the use of absorptive coatings for instruments for controlling medication levels are described. The applicability of occupation health and safety practices to industry, computerized patient scheduling, impregnation of the common facial tissue with an agent for killing respiratory viruses, commercial applications of anthropometric data, and multispectral image analysis of the skin as a diagnostic tool are reviewed.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1994

Image Compression Devices

The Rice algorithm is a "lossless" compression algorithm; it takes an image or other data that has been broken down into short strings of digital data, then processes each string mathematically to reduce the amount of memory required to store or transmit them. It is particularly useful in medical, scientific or engineering applications where all data must be preserved. Originally developed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the technology is marketed by Advanced Hardware Architectures, a company started by a former employee of the NASA Microelectronics Research Center.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1984

Slow Scan Telemedicine

Originally developed under contract for NASA by Ball Bros. Research Corporation for acquiring visual information from lunar and planetary spacecraft, system uses standard closed circuit camera connected to a device called a scan converter, which slows the stream of images to match an audio circuit, such as a telephone line. Transmitted to its destination, the image is reconverted by another scan converter and displayed on a monitor. In addition to assist scans, technique allows transmission of x-rays, nuclear scans, ultrasonic imagery, thermograms, electrocardiograms or live views of patient. Also allows conferencing and consultation among medical centers, general practitioners, specialists and disease control centers. Commercialized by Colorado Video, Inc., major employment is in business and industry for teleconferencing, cable TV news, transmission of scientific/engineering data, security, information retrieval, insurance claim adjustment, instructional programs, and remote viewing of advertising layouts, real estate, construction sites or products.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2014

Estimating the Risk of Renal Stone Events During Long-Duration Spaceflight

Introduction: Given the bone loss and increased urinary calcium excretion in the microgravity environment, persons participating in long-duration spaceflight may have an increased risk for renal stone formation. Renal stones are often an incidental finding of abdominal imaging studies done for other reasons. Thus, some crewmembers may have undiscovered, asymptomatic stones prior to their mission. Methods: An extensive literature search was conducted concerning the natural history of asymptomatic renal stones. For comparison, simulations were done using the Integrated Medical Model (IMM). The IMM is an evidence-based decision support tool that provides risk analysis and has the capability to optimize medical systems for missions by minimizing the occurrence of adverse mission outcomes such as evacuation and loss of crew life within specified mass and volume constraints. Results: The literature of the natural history of asymptomatic renal stones in the general medical population shows that the probability of symptomatic event is 8% to 34% at 1 to 3 years for stones < 7 mm. Extrapolated to a 6-month mission, for stones < 5 to 7 mm, the risk for any stone event is about 4 to 6%, with a 0.7% to 4% risk for intervention, respectively. IMM simulations compare favorably with risk estimates garnered from the terrestrial literature. The IMM forecasts that symptomatic renal stones may be one of the top drivers for medical evacuation of an International Space Station (ISS) mission. Discussion: Although the likelihood of a stone event is low, the consequences could be severe due to limitations of current ISS medical capabilities. Therefore, these risks need to be quantified to aid planning, limit crew morbidity and mitigate mission impacts. This will be especially critical for missions beyond earth orbit, where evacuation may not be an option.

Reyes, David↗

NASA NTRS2014

Estimating the Risk of Renal Stone Events during Long-Duration Spaceflight

Introduction: Given the bone loss and increased urinary calcium excretion in the microgravity environment, persons participating in long-duration spaceflight may have an increased risk for renal stone formation. Renal stones are often an incidental finding of abdominal imaging studies done for other reasons. Thus, some crewmembers may have undiscovered, asymptomatic stones prior to their mission. Methods: An extensive literature search was conducted concerning the natural history of asymptomatic renal stones. For comparison, simulations were done using the Integrated Medical Model (IMM). The IMM is an evidence-based decision support tool that provides risk analysis and has the capability to optimize medical systems for missions by minimizing the occurrence of adverse mission outcomes such as evacuation and loss of crew life within specified mass and volume constraints. Results: The literature of the natural history of asymptomatic renal stones in the general medical population shows that the probability of symptomatic event is 8% to 34% at 1 to 3 years for stones < 7 mm. Extrapolated to a 6-month mission, for stones < 5 to 7 mm, the risk for any stone event is about 4 to 6%, with a 0.7% to 4% risk for intervention, respectively. IMM simulations compare favorably with risk estimates garnered from the terrestrial literature. The IMM forecasts that symptomatic renal stones may be one of the top drivers for medical evacuation of an International Space Station (ISS) mission. Discussion: Although the likelihood of a stone event is low, the consequences could be severe due to limitations of current ISS medical capabilities. Therefore, these risks need to be quantified to aid planning, limit crew morbidity and mitigate mission impacts. This will be especially critical for missions beyond earth orbit, where evacuation may not be an option.

Reyes, David↗

NASA NTRS2009

Chlorophyll Meters Aid Plant Nutrient Management

On December 7, 1972, roughly 5 hours and 6 minutes after launch, the crew of Apollo 17 took one of history s most famous photographs. The brilliant image of the fully illuminated Earth, the African and Antarctic continents peering out from behind swirling clouds, came to be known as the Blue Marble. Today, Earth still sometimes goes by the Blue Marble nickname, but as the satellites comprising NASA s Earth Observing System (EOS) scan the planet daily in ever greater resolutions, it is often the amount of green on the planet that is a focus of researchers attention. Earth s over 400,000 known plant species play essential roles in the planet s health: They absorb carbon dioxide and release the oxygen we breathe, help manage the Earth s temperature by absorbing and reflecting sunlight, provide food and habitats for animals, and offer building materials, medication, and sustenance for humans. As part of NASA s efforts to study our own planet along with the universe around it, the Agency s EOS satellites have been accumulating years of valuable data about Earth s vegetation (not to mention its land features, oceans, and atmosphere) since the first EOS satellite launched in 1997. Among the powerful sensors used is the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board the NASA Terra and Aqua satellites. MODIS sweeps the entire Earth every few days, beaming back information gathered across 36 bands of visible and infrared light, yielding images that let scientists track how much of Earth is green over the course of seasons and years. Monitoring the density and distribution of vegetation on Earth provides a means of determining everything from the impact of natural and human-induced climate change to the potential outbreak of disease. (Goddard Space Flight Center and U.S. Department of Defense researchers have determined, for example, that vegetation density can be used to pinpoint regions of heavy rainfall in Africa regions ripe for outbreaks of rainfall-correlated diseases like mosquito-borne Rift Valley fever.) While the Space Agency is continually seeking to upgrade the power and scope of its satellite sensors, it is also finding ways to bring that potent information-gathering capacity down to Earth. Scientists at Stennis Space Center developed one such tool that is placing some of those sensor capabilities in the hands of farmers and agricultural researchers on the ground.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2016

Expanding NASA and Roscosmos Scientific Collaboration on the International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is a world-class laboratory orbiting in space. NASA and Roscosmos have developed a strong relationship through the ISS Program Partnership, working together and with the other ISS Partners for more than twenty years. Since 2013, based on a framework agreement between the Program Managers, NASA and Roscosmos are building a joint program of collaborative research on ISS. This international collaboration is developed and implemented in phases. Initially, members of the ISS Program Science Forum from NASA and TsNIIMash (representing Roscosmos) identified the first set of NASA experiments that could be implemented in the "near term". The experiments represented the research categories of Technology Demonstration, Microbiology, and Education. Through these experiments, the teams from the "program" and "operations" communities learned to work together to identify collaboration opportunities, establish agreements, and jointly plan and execute the experiments. The first joint scientific activity on ISS occurred in January 2014, and implementation of these joint experiments continues through present ISS operations. NASA and TsNIIMash have proceeded to develop "medium term" collaborations, where scientists join together to improve already-proposed experiments. A major success is the joint One-Year Mission on ISS, with astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, who returned from ISS in March, 2016. The teams from the NASA Human Research Program and the RAS Institute for Biomedical Problems built on their considerable experience to design joint experiments, learn to work with each other's protocols and processes, and share medical and research data. New collaborations are being developed between American and Russian scientists in complex fluids, robotics, rodent research and space biology, and additional human research. Collaborations are also being developed in Earth Remote Sensing, where scientists will share data from imaging systems mounted on ISS as well as other orbiting spacecraft to improve our understanding of the Earth and its climate. NASA and Roscosmos continue to encourage international scientific cooperation and expanded use of the ISS Laboratory. "Long-term", larger collaborations will achieve scientific objectives that no single national science team or agency can achieve on its own. The joint accomplishments achieved so far have paved the way for a stronger international scientific community and improved results and benefits from ISS.

Hasbrook, Pete↗

NASA NTRS1987

Prevention of disuse osteoporosis: Effect of sodium fluoride during five weeks of bed rest

An attempt was made to modify factors which promote disuse osteoporosis and thereby prevent it from occurring. Since fluoride is currently used to enhance bone formation in the treatment of low turnover osteoporosis, it was hypothesized that if the fluoride ion was available over a long period of time that it would slow the demonstrated loss of calcium by inhibiting bone resorption and enhancing bone formation. This study was used to determine whether oral medication with sodium F will modify or prevent 5 weeks of bed rest induced disuse osteoporosis, to determine the longitudinal effects of 5 weeks of bed rest on PTH, CT and calcitriol, to measure muscle volume changes and metabolic activity by magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy during prolonged bed rest, to measure changes in peak muscle strength and fatigability, and to measure bone turnover in bone biopsies. Subjects were studied during 1 week of equilibration, 4 weeks of control ambulation, 5 weeks of bed rest, and 1 week of reambulation.

Schneider, Victor S.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Spherical Camera

Developed largely through a Small Business Innovation Research contract through Langley Research Center, Interactive Picture Corporation's IPIX technology provides spherical photography, a panoramic 360-degrees. NASA found the technology appropriate for use in guiding space robots, in the space shuttle and space station programs, as well as research in cryogenic wind tunnels and for remote docking of spacecraft. Images of any location are captured in their entirety in a 360-degree immersive digital representation. The viewer can navigate to any desired direction within the image. Several car manufacturers already use IPIX to give viewers a look at their latest line-up of automobiles. Another application is for non-invasive surgeries. By using OmniScope, surgeons can look more closely at various parts of an organ with medical viewing instruments now in use. Potential applications of IPIX technology include viewing of homes for sale, hotel accommodations, museum sites, news events, and sports stadiums.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2006

System and method for confining an object to a region of fluid flow having a stagnation point

A device for confining an object to a region proximate to a fluid flow stagnation point includes one or more inlets for carrying the fluid into the region, one or more outlets for carrying the fluid out of the region, and a controller, in fluidic communication with the inlets and outlets, for adjusting the motion of the fluid to produce a stagnation point in the region, thereby confining the object to the region. Applications include, for example, prolonged observation of the object, manipulation of the object, etc. The device optionally may employ a feedback control mechanism, a sensing apparatus (e.g., for imaging), and a storage medium for storing, and a computer for analyzing and manipulating, data acquired from observing the object. The invention further provides methods of using such a device and system in a number of fields, including biology, chemistry, physics, material science, and medical science.

Schroeder, Charles M.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Implementation of a SysML Model-Based Concept of Operations for Level of Care IV: Long-Duration Lunar Orbital and Surface Operations

One goal of the Human Research Program (HRP) Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element Systems Engineering (SE) team is to define the technical system needed to support crew medical system capabilities for future exploration missions, including orbital and surface operations for long duration lunar missions. This is accomplished through the development of a Medical System Foundation, which communicates medical system requirements, capabilities, conditions, and resources that define a starting point for a medical system that meets the specification for design reference missions and associated Levels of Care (as defined by NASA-STD-3001). The starting point for creating this Medical System Foundation Model is the development of a Concept of Operations (ConOps) that describes the operation of the system from the point of view of the users. It includes a comprehensive and thoroughly vetted list of the users, their specific needs, the goals of the system, key assumptions about the system, and definitions of the system’s operational environments. The use case scenarios included in the ConOps illustrate required medical system capabilities for Level of Care IV and enable the ExMC SE team to develop integrated medical system requirements and identify capabilities required to meet those requirements. For this “Long Duration” Medical System Foundation development effort, ExMC replaced the traditional document-based ConOps with a model-based ConOps using model-based systems engineering. This approach has several advantages, including the facilitation of more efficient understanding of the material through information-dense images with less opportunity for misinterpretation than text alone, the roll-out of changes to the ConOps to stakeholders in real-time as they are approved, and the consolidation of all salient information into one centralized location. This discussion will focus on both how the model represents the ConOps content and how the SE team utilized lessons learned in an agile environment to improve the way this information was created and presented to stakeholders.

M Kaetzer↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Implementation of a SysML Model-Based Concept of Operations for Level of Care IV: Long-Duration Lunar Orbital and Surface Operations

One goal of the Human Research Program (HRP) Exploration Medical Capability (ExMC) Element Systems Engineering (SE) team is to define the technical system needed to support crew medical system capabilities for future exploration missions, including orbital and surface operations for long duration lunar missions. This is accomplished through the development of a Medical System Foundation, which communicates medical system requirements, capabilities, conditions, and resources that define a starting point for a medical system that meets the specification for design reference missions and associated Levels of Care (as defined by NASA-STD-3001). The starting point for creating this Medical System Foundation Model is the development of a Concept of Operations (ConOps) that describes the operation of the system from the point of view of the users. It includes a comprehensive and thoroughly vetted list of the users, their specific needs, the goals of the system, key assumptions about the system, and definitions of the system’s operational environments. The use case scenarios included in the ConOps illustrate required medical system capabilities for Level of Care IV and enable the ExMC SE team to develop integrated medical system requirements and identify capabilities required to meet those requirements. For this “Long Duration” Medical System Foundation development effort, ExMC replaced the traditional document-based ConOps with a model-based ConOps using model-based systems engineering. This approach has several advantages, including the facilitation of more efficient understanding of the material through information-dense images with less opportunity for misinterpretation than text alone, the roll-out of changes to the ConOps to stakeholders in real-time as they are approved, and the consolidation of all salient information into one centralized location. This discussion will focus on both how the model represents the ConOps content and how the SE team utilized lessons learned in an agile environment to improve the way this information was created and presented to stakeholders.

Mary Susan Kaetzer↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Imaging-Based Human Physiology Research and Innovation in Early Spaceflight: Polaris Dawn Mission

Objectives - Physiological data - Early inflight period historically unobtainable - Spacefaring population becoming more diverse - Many spaceflight changes still poorly understood, risks unmitigated - Private spaceflight offers more rapid access to higher n - Autonomous procedures - Communication delays and outages - Transition to new training paradigms - Terrestrial application (remote medicine, DOD) - Leverage new hardware and software - Concepts extend beyond medical realm (medical ultrasound as a use case)

A. Sargsyan↗