France – After the MITBO challenge, which consisted of developing a radiology first aid kit for space, radiologists continue to explore and innovate. They are now considering performing a weightless intervention – through a parabolic flight – in order to prepare for the lunar space station project, Gateway, planned for 2024/26. This theme will be the subject of a session at the upcoming French Radiology Days (JFR 2023).
Preparing for an extra-orbital journey
Since 2020, the French Society of Radiology, in collaboration with the CNES (National Center for Space Studies) and MEDES (Institute of Space Medicine and Physiology), has been developing medical imaging solutions adapted to space travel. Why such a partnership?
“Because we are convinced that space is an accelerator of innovation development, because when we are capable of developing innovations for space, we benefit from them on Earth in one way or another,” explained Prof. Alain Luciani, a radiologist at Henri Mondor University Hospital (Créteil), during a press conference prior to the JFR [1]. Moreover, it is out of the question to consider an extra-orbital journey (to the moon and to Mars) without onboard imaging and interventional radiology.
At the JFR 2021, the SFR organized, under the direction of Prof. Vincent Vidal, a radiologist at La Timone University Hospital in Marseille, the MITBO challenge “Mars International Radiology Toolbox,” with the objective for participating teams to create a radiology first aid kit that could address a large part of the medical emergencies faced by astronauts during their extra-orbital journey. The kits were then presented to the public at the JFR 2022. (Read our article Mission to Mars: What Should the Interventional Radiology First Aid Kit Contain?).
Simulation in isolation
The collaboration between the SFR and CNES-MEDES continued in 2023 with participation in the Asclepios III mission, which took place last July in Sasso San Gottardo, Switzerland. Asclepios III is a simulation used to test if astronauts can be autonomous in conditions of isolation that replicate long-distance space travel – in this case, an environment simulating life at the South Pole of the Moon. An international crew of six analogue astronauts – a term used to describe people on Earth who reproduce the conditions of long-duration space missions – were placed in isolation at a base for 15 days in order to conduct, among other things, experiments exploring the challenges of space medicine, particularly those related to isolation and the need for autonomy in dealing with medical problems.
“For the radiology part, the analogue astronauts had to be capable of performing interventional radiology procedures following training provided by Prof. Julien Frandon, a radiologist at Nîmes University Hospital. They had at their disposal teaching materials (e-learning courses and videos, visual drainage instructions).
A partnership was established with CANON, which provided the ultrasound machines. They also had to use the interventional radiology Toolbox equipment autonomously. The results of the experimentation will be presented on the JFR’s Saturday (see box below),” explained the radiologist.
Performing a radiology procedure in weightlessness
Why are these projects particularly important this year? Mainly because of the launch of the Artemis mission – an ambitious project led by NASA aimed at returning to the moon sustainably with humans.
After an orbital mission without astronauts last year, a mission is scheduled to depart in November 2024 with a human crew on board to undertake the same journey, spending 10 days in space without landing on the moon.
The next step involves constructing a space station in orbit around the moon, Gateway, by 2024/2026. “The medical constraints will then be completely different. Knowing how to provide emergency care in the event of traumatic, hemorrhagic, or infectious accidents seems absolutely vital to us,” highlighted Prof. Luciani.
The challenge to be met in 2024 is to be the first to be capable of performing a radiology procedure in weightlessness. “We hope, in collaboration with the CNES, to be able to embark astronauts and interventional radiologists on a parabolic flight. It would be a world first,” added the speaker.
The French Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Days (JFR) will take place from October 13 to 16, 2023 at the Palais des Congrès (Porte Maillot, Paris). The session dedicated to radiology in space will be held on Saturday, October 14, 2023, at 2:45 PM – VRI Agora Level 3.
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