Andrew Yee
November 4th 05, 01:30 AM
National Space Biomedical Research Institute
Houston, Texas
Contact:
Lauren Hammit, 713-798-7595
November 3, 2005
Ultrasound -- a diagnostic tool for space, sports and more
An ultrasound training program for non-physicians gives astronauts and
sports trainers the tools to assess injuries using real-time remote
assistance from medical experts.
Researchers with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI)
have developed a computer-based training method that teaches
non-physicians to operate ultrasound as if they were technicians. Crew
members for four International Space Station (ISS) missions have trained
with the program and have performed ultrasound techniques while in space.
The ultrasound program also has been used by trainers with the Detroit Red
Wings hockey team.
"In isolated places like the ISS, we don't have the luxury of a
radiologist or specialist onboard," said Dr. Scott A. Dulchavsky, a
researcher on NSBRI's Smart Medical Systems Team. "Our goal is to enable
someone working in a remote environment to assess and manage an emergency
medical condition."
In space, ultrasound can be used to assess a number of injuries such as
trauma to the eye, shoulder or knee, tooth abscesses, broken or fractured
bones, a collapsed lung, hemorrhaging, or muscle and bone atrophy. It
normally takes 200 hours plus yearly updates to learn to operate
ultrasound, but Dulchavsky and his team developed an education method that
cuts the time to two-to-three hours a year.
Dulchavsky also sees this ultrasound training method as beneficial to
battlefield medics and emergency responders. Injury severity can be
assessed and decisions made whether to treat injuries on site or transport
to a hospital.
"With remote guidance, we virtually couple a modestly trained operator
with an experienced medical expert, essentially making the non-physician
the hands of the expert," said Dulchavsky, chair of the Department of
Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. "There is tremendous potential
for space medicine and benefits for Earth."
The program consists of a computer-based instructional presentation on the
basics of ultrasound examination and examples of remote guidance. Remote
guidance is presented in experiment-specific sections, comparable to
visual case studies. "One video session walks you through basic
positioning, and the next one might demonstrate how to image a bone,"
Dulchavsky said.
After the computer-based instruction, trainees participate in a hands-on
session where they perform abdominal and musculoskeletal ultrasound scans.
A video stream from the ultrasound device is split between the on-site
monitor and the remote location. Watching the simultaneous video feed, the
remote medical expert can see the trainee's ultrasound images. He or she
uses voice commands to guide the operator into positioning the probe and
fine-tuning the settings to produce clear, useful images. The hands-on
sessions are designed to closely simulate ultrasound experiments performed
in orbit.
After the initial training, ultrasound operators complete a one-hour
refresher course developed by Dulchavsky's team, called the Onboard
Proficiency Enhancement (OPE) program. The OPE employs multi-media
instruction similar to the original computer-based training. ISS
Expedition 9 crewmembers astronaut Michael Fincke and cosmonaut Gennady
Padalka completed the OPE program before doing inflight ultrasound scans
of the shoulder. Dulchavsky says the program will soon be one of the
medical tools used by the Detroit Tigers baseball club. In addition, the
U.S. Olympic Committee recently announced a collaboration with
Dulchavsky's group to create research protocols involving Olympic
athletes.
"Our next challenge is to improve the speed and efficiency of diagnosing
and treating injury," Dulchavsky said. "We have the opportunity now to
expand ultrasound from the medical and hospital setting to include
assessment capabilities for sports, emergency medical care and for
under-served areas of the world."
NSBRI, funded by NASA, is a consortium of institutions studying the health
risks related to long-duration space flight. The Institute's research and
education projects take place at more than 70 institutions across the
United States.
Related photos are available at:
http://www.nsbri.org/NewsPublicOut/20051102.html
Houston, Texas
Contact:
Lauren Hammit, 713-798-7595
November 3, 2005
Ultrasound -- a diagnostic tool for space, sports and more
An ultrasound training program for non-physicians gives astronauts and
sports trainers the tools to assess injuries using real-time remote
assistance from medical experts.
Researchers with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI)
have developed a computer-based training method that teaches
non-physicians to operate ultrasound as if they were technicians. Crew
members for four International Space Station (ISS) missions have trained
with the program and have performed ultrasound techniques while in space.
The ultrasound program also has been used by trainers with the Detroit Red
Wings hockey team.
"In isolated places like the ISS, we don't have the luxury of a
radiologist or specialist onboard," said Dr. Scott A. Dulchavsky, a
researcher on NSBRI's Smart Medical Systems Team. "Our goal is to enable
someone working in a remote environment to assess and manage an emergency
medical condition."
In space, ultrasound can be used to assess a number of injuries such as
trauma to the eye, shoulder or knee, tooth abscesses, broken or fractured
bones, a collapsed lung, hemorrhaging, or muscle and bone atrophy. It
normally takes 200 hours plus yearly updates to learn to operate
ultrasound, but Dulchavsky and his team developed an education method that
cuts the time to two-to-three hours a year.
Dulchavsky also sees this ultrasound training method as beneficial to
battlefield medics and emergency responders. Injury severity can be
assessed and decisions made whether to treat injuries on site or transport
to a hospital.
"With remote guidance, we virtually couple a modestly trained operator
with an experienced medical expert, essentially making the non-physician
the hands of the expert," said Dulchavsky, chair of the Department of
Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. "There is tremendous potential
for space medicine and benefits for Earth."
The program consists of a computer-based instructional presentation on the
basics of ultrasound examination and examples of remote guidance. Remote
guidance is presented in experiment-specific sections, comparable to
visual case studies. "One video session walks you through basic
positioning, and the next one might demonstrate how to image a bone,"
Dulchavsky said.
After the computer-based instruction, trainees participate in a hands-on
session where they perform abdominal and musculoskeletal ultrasound scans.
A video stream from the ultrasound device is split between the on-site
monitor and the remote location. Watching the simultaneous video feed, the
remote medical expert can see the trainee's ultrasound images. He or she
uses voice commands to guide the operator into positioning the probe and
fine-tuning the settings to produce clear, useful images. The hands-on
sessions are designed to closely simulate ultrasound experiments performed
in orbit.
After the initial training, ultrasound operators complete a one-hour
refresher course developed by Dulchavsky's team, called the Onboard
Proficiency Enhancement (OPE) program. The OPE employs multi-media
instruction similar to the original computer-based training. ISS
Expedition 9 crewmembers astronaut Michael Fincke and cosmonaut Gennady
Padalka completed the OPE program before doing inflight ultrasound scans
of the shoulder. Dulchavsky says the program will soon be one of the
medical tools used by the Detroit Tigers baseball club. In addition, the
U.S. Olympic Committee recently announced a collaboration with
Dulchavsky's group to create research protocols involving Olympic
athletes.
"Our next challenge is to improve the speed and efficiency of diagnosing
and treating injury," Dulchavsky said. "We have the opportunity now to
expand ultrasound from the medical and hospital setting to include
assessment capabilities for sports, emergency medical care and for
under-served areas of the world."
NSBRI, funded by NASA, is a consortium of institutions studying the health
risks related to long-duration space flight. The Institute's research and
education projects take place at more than 70 institutions across the
United States.
Related photos are available at:
http://www.nsbri.org/NewsPublicOut/20051102.html