spd news

 

Telemedicine On Top Of The World

For more information
email us at:
spd@msfc.nasa.gov

Everest extreme expedition map September 20, 1999 Huntsville, AL   Efforts by the Medical Informatics and Technology Applications Consortium (MITAC) Commercial Space Center to advance telemedicine -- the ability to have doctors and others in remote locations examine patients and consult on treatments -- were almost literally on top of the world earlier this year. The Everest Extreme '99 Expedition Team made use of a technology demonstration to help ensure the health of its participants.

Medical personnel with the expedition could share visual images, ultrasound images, blood chemistry, and other important medical data with experts worldwide -- at any facility with Internet-based videoconferencing capability. It also allowed for realtime monitoring of the climbers as they climbed the World's highest mountain.

"A key component of this demonstration was the ability to monitor the climber's physiology and location during the climb," states Charles R. Doarn, Executive Director of MITAC. "The kinds of activities with which MITAC is involved will enhance healthcare capabilities on Earth and on spaceflights, with the International Space Station and on more advanced missions and operations."

More information on some of the hardware used can be found in online at Yahoo.

For more information on the Space Product Development Program, contact spd@msfc.nasa.gov.

For more detailed information on MITAC and the Everest Expedition, please contact Mr. Charles Doarn at crdoarn@hsc.vcu.edu