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At least 19 records

Cerebral blood flow velocity and cranial fluid volume decrease during +Gz acceleration

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) velocity and cranial fluid volume, which is defined as the total volume of intra- and extracranial fluid, were measured using transcranial Doppler ultrasonography and rheoencephalography, respectively, in humans during graded increase of +Gz acceleration (onset rate: 0.1 G/s) without straining maneuvers. Gz acceleration was terminated when subjects' vision decreased to an angle of less than or equal to 60 degrees, which was defined as the physiological end point. In five subjects, mean CBF velocity decreased 48% from a baseline value of 59.4 +/- 11.2 cm/s to 31.0 +/- 5.6 cm/s (p<0.01) with initial loss of peripheral vision at 5.7 +/- 0.9 Gz. On the other hand, systolic CBF velocity did not change significantly during increasing +Gz acceleration. Cranial impedance, which is proportional to loss of cranial fluid volume, increased by 2.0 +/- 0.8% above the baseline value at the physiological end point (p<0.05). Both the decrease of CBF velocity and the increase of cranial impedance correlated significantly with Gz. These results suggest that +Gz acceleration without straining maneuvers decreases CBF velocity to half normal and probably causes a caudal fluid shift from both intra- and extracranial tissues.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

Fluid volumes changes induced by spaceflight

The blood volume (BV), plasma volume (PV), and extracellular fluid volume changes produced in crewmembers during spaceflights of 11-84 days were compared to changes after 14 or 28 days of bedrest. Spaceflight and bedrest produce approximately equal BV changes but the recorded PV change after spaceflight was less. However, the diurnal change in PV may explain the smaller decreases recorded after spaceflight. The cardiovascular deconditioning caused by spaceflight and bedrest was compared using the mean heart rate response to lower body negative pressure (LBNP) testing at -50 mmHg pressure. These tests show approximately equal LBNP produced heart rate changes after bedrest and spaceflight. A countermeasure which includes 4 hr of LBNP treatment at -30 mmHg and the ingestion of one l. of saline was studied and found capable of returning the heart rate response and the PV of bedrested subjects to control (prebedrest) levels suggesting that it would be useful to the crewmembers after a spaceflight.

Johnson, P. C.↗

System and Method for Wirelessly Determining Fluid Volume

A system and method are provided for determining the volume of a fluid in container. Sensors are positioned at distinct locations in a container of a fluid. Each sensor is sensitive to an interface defined by the top surface of the fluid. Interfaces associated with at least three of the sensors are determined and used to find the volume of the fluid in the container in a geometric process.

Woodard, Stanley E.↗

Regulation of body fluid volume and electrolyte concentrations in spaceflight

Despite a number of difficulties in performing experiments during weightlessness, a great deal of information has been obtained concerning the effects of spaceflight on the regulation of body fluid and electrolytes. Many paradoxes and questions remain, however. Although body mass, extracellular fluid volume, and plasma volume are reduced during spaceflight and remain so at landing, the changes in total body water are comparatively small. Serum or plasma sodium and osmolality have generally been unchanged or reduced during the spaceflight, and fluid intake is substantially reduced, especially during the first of flight. The diuresis that was predicted to be caused by weightlessness, has only rarely been observed as an increased urine volume. What has been well established by now, is the occurrence of a relative diuresis, where fluid intake decreases more than urine volume does. Urinary excretion of electrolytes has been variable during spaceflight, but retention of fluid and electrolytes at landing has been consistently observed. The glomerular filtration rate was significantly elevated during the SLS missions, and water and electrolyte loading tests have indicated that renal function is altered during readaptation to Earth's gravity. Endocrine control of fluid volumes and electrolyte concentrations may be altered during weightlessness, but levels of hormones in body fluids do not conform to predictions based on early hypotheses. Antidiuretic hormone is not suppressed, though its level is highly variable and its secretion may be affected by space motion sickness and environmental factors. Plasma renin activity and aldosterone are generally elevated at landing, consistent with sodium retention, but inflight levels have been variable. Salt intake may be an important factor influencing the levels of these hormones. The circadian rhythm of cortisol has undoubtedly contributed to its variability, and little is known yet about the influence of spaceflight on circadian rhythms. Atrial natriuretic peptide does not seem to play an important role in the control of natriuresis during spaceflight. Inflight activity of the sympathetic nervous system, assessed by measuring catecholamines and their metabolites and precursors in body fluids, generally seems to be no greater than on Earth, but this system is usually activated at landing. Collaborative experiments on the Mir and the International Space Station should provide more of the data needed from long-term flights, and perhaps help to resolve some of the discrepancies between U.S. and Russian data. The use of alternative methods that are easier to execute during spaceflight, such as collection of saliva instead of blood and urine, should permit more thorough study of circadian rhythms and rapid hormone changes in weightlessness. More investigations of dietary intake of fluid and electrolytes must be performed to understand regulatory processes. Additional hormones that may participate in these processes, such as other natriuretic hormones, should be determined during and after spaceflight. Alterations in body fluid volume and blood electrolyte concentrations during spaceflight have important consequences for readaptation to the 1-G environment. The current assessment of fluid and electrolyte status during weightlessness and at landing and our still incomplete understanding of the processes of adaptation to weightlessness and readaptation to Earth's gravity have resulted in the development of countermeasures that are only partly successful in reducing the postflight orthostatic intolerance experienced by astronauts and cosmonauts. More complete knowledge of these processes can be expected to produce countermeasures that are even more successful, as well as expand our comprehension of the range of adaptability of human physiologic processes.

NASA Discipline Number 18-10↗

Role for Lower Extremity Interstitial Fluid Volume Changes in the Development of Orthostasis after Simulated Microgravity

Reentry orthostasis after exposure to the conditions of spaceflight is a persistent problem among astronauts. In a previous study, a computer model systems analysis was used to examine the physiologic mechanisms involved in this phenomenon. In this analysis, it was determined that an augmented capacitance of lower extremity veins due to a fluid volume contracture of the surrounding interstitial spaces during spaceflight results in an increase in sequestered blood volume upon standing and appears to be the initiating mechanism responsible for reentry orthostasis. In this study, we attempt to validate the central premise of this hypothesis using a ground-based spaceflight analog. 10 healthy subjects were placed at bed rest in a 6 head down tilt position for 60 days of bed rest. The impact of adaptations in interstitial fluid volume and venous capacitance in the lower extremities were then observed during a standard tilt test protocol performed before and after the confinement period. The interstitial thickness superficial to the calcaneous immediately below the lateral malleolus was measured using ultrasound with a 17-5 MHz linear array transducer. Measurements of the changes in anterior tibial vein diameter during tilt were obtained by similar methods. The measurements were taken while the subjects were supine and then during upright tilt (80') for thirty minutes, or until the subject had signs of presyncope. Additional measurements of the superficial left tibia interstitial thickness and stroke volume by standard echocardiographic methods were also recorded. In addition, calf compliance was measured over a pressure range of 10-60 mmHg, using plethysmography, in a subset of these subjects (n = 5). There was a average of 6% diminution in the size of the lower extremity interstitial space as compared to measurements acquired prior to bed rest. This contracture of the interstitial space coincided with a subsequent relative increase in the percentage change in tibial vein diameter and stroke volume upon tilting in contrast to the observations made before bed rest (54 vs 23% respectively). Compliance in the calf increased by an average of 36% by day 27 of bedrest. A systems analysis using a computer model of cardiovascular physiology suggests that microgravity induced interstitial volume depletion results in an accentuation of venous blood volume sequestration and is the initiating event in reentry orthostasis. This hypothesis was tested in volunteer subjects using a ground-based spaceflight analog model that simulated the body fluid redistribution induced by microgravity exposure. Measurements of changes in the interstitial spaces and observed responses of the anterior tibial vein with tilt, together with the increase in calf compliance, were consistent with our proposed mechanism for the initiation of postflight orthostasis often seen in astronauts.

Platts, Steven H.↗

Passenger fluid volumes measured before and after a prolonged commercial jet flight.

Interstitial and intracellular fluid volumes were calculated from measured plasma volume, extracellular volume and total body water of six subjects before and after a 24-hour commercial overseas flight. No change occurred in these spaces or in peripheral hematocrit or total serum protein concentration. The subjective feeling of dehydration and the actual swelling of the lower extremities characteristically found among passengers at the end of a long trip of this type seems to represent a shift in body fluids to the dependent portions of the body rather than water retention or a decrease in the intravascular water volume.

Johnson, P. C.↗

Development of a prototype fluid volume measurement system

The research is reported in applying the axial fluid temperature differential flowmeter to a urine volume measurement system for space missions. The fluid volume measurement system is described along with the prototype equipment package. Flowmeter calibration, electronic signal processing, and typical void volume measurements are also described.

Poppendiek, H. F.↗

Bioimpedance Measurement of Segmental Fluid Volumes and Hemodynamics

Bioimpedance has become a useful tool to measure changes in body fluid compartment volumes. An Electrical Impedance Spectroscopic (EIS) system is described that extends the capabilities of conventional fixed frequency impedance plethysmographic (IPG) methods to allow examination of the redistribution of fluids between the intracellular and extracellular compartments of body segments. The combination of EIS and IPG techniques was evaluated in the human calf, thigh, and torso segments of eight healthy men during 90 minutes of six degree head-down tilt (HDT). After 90 minutes HDT the calf and thigh segments significantly (P < 0.05) lost conductive volume (eight and four percent, respectively) while the torso significantly (P < 0.05) gained volume (approximately three percent). Hemodynamic responses calculated from pulsatile IPG data also showed a segmental pattern consistent with vascular fluid loss from the lower extremities and vascular engorgement in the torso. Lumped-parameter equivalent circuit analyses of EIS data for the calf and thigh indicated that the overall volume decreases in these segments arose from reduced extracellular volume that was not completely balanced by increased intracellular volume. The combined use of IPG and EIS techniques enables noninvasive tracking of multi-segment volumetric and hemodynamic responses to environmental and physiological stresses.

Montgomery, Leslie D.↗

Miniature valve accurately controls small volume fluid flow

Hydraulic or pneumatic actuated valve accurately controls small volume flow of liquids or gases by expanding or relaxing an O-ring within an annular flow space. In one application, 2 such valves were used to accurately meter small volumes of helium under a pressure of 1000 psi.

Grunwald, A.↗

A Review of Electrical Impedance Spectrometry Methods for Parametric Estimation of Physiologic Fluid Volumes

Electrical impedance spectrometry involves measurement of the complex resistance of a load at multiple frequencies. With this information in the form of impedance magnitude and phase, or resistance and reactance, basic structure or function of the load can be estimated. The "load" targeted for measurement and estimation in this study consisted of the water-bearing tissues of the human calf. It was proposed and verified that by measuring the electrical impedance of the human calf and fitting this data to a model of fluid compartments, the lumped-model volume of intracellular and extracellular spaces could be estimated, By performing this estimation over time, the volume dynamics during application of stimuli which affect the direction of gravity can be viewed. The resulting data can form a basis for further modeling and verification of cardiovascular and compartmental modeling of fluid reactions to microgravity as well as countermeasures to the headward shift of fluid during head-down tilt or spaceflight.

Dewberry, B.↗

Endocrine, electrolyte, and fluid volume changes associated with Apollo missions

The endocrine and metabolic results obtained before and after the Apollo missions and the results of the limited in-flight sampling are summarized and discussed. The studies were designed to evaluate the biochemical changes in the returning Apollo crewmembers, and the areas studied included balance of fluids and electrolytes, regulation of calcium metabolism, adaptation to the environment, and regulation of metabolic processes.

Carolyn S. Leach↗

Effect of a central redistribution of fluid volume on response to lower-body negative pressure

Cardiovascular responses to lower-body negative pressure (LBNP) were studied following 1 hour of 6-deg head-down tilt to determine whether a redistribution of blood volume toward the central circulation modifies the subsequent response to orthostatic stress. Responses of 12 men, ages 30-39 years, were evaluated by electrocardiography, impedance cardiography, sphygmomanometry, and measurement of calf circumference. During the LBNP that followed head-down tilt, as compared with control LBNP (no preceding head-down tilt) subjects, had smaller stroke volume and cardiac output, greater total peripheral resistance, and less calf enlargement. These differences reflect differences in the variables immediately preceding LBNP. Magnitudes of the responses from pre-LBNP to each pressure stage of the LBNP procedure did not differ between protocols. Mean and diastolic arterial pressures were slightly elevated after LBNP-control, but they fell slightly during LBNP post-tilt.

Tomaselli, Clare M.↗