SPACE MEDICINE
Advances in medicine could be a space mission away. Amazing research happening at Cleveland Clinic's new center for space medicine could help fight heart disease, osteoporosis, balance disorders and other conditions.
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Exercising in air on the zero-gravity locomotion simulator. A virtual reality treadmill.
A machine named "The Jolly Jumper" that analyzes motion and its impact on our bones.
These experiments at Cleveland Clinic's Space Lab teach researchers everything from how to prevent bone loss to how to help people with balance disorders.
Doctor Brian Davis' mission -- how to maintain bone density in space. Astronauts lose it ten-times faster than postmenopausal women -- who are most at risk.
Brian Davis, Ph.D.
Biomedical engineer
The Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, OH
"There's a possibility that jumping has multiple benefits: musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and neurovestibular."
This virtual realty treadmill may help those with inner ear problems.
Susan D'Andrea, Ph.D.
Biomedical engineer
The Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, OH
"This could be used as a rehab tool -- a training tool -- where someone with a balance disorder could come and walk on it on a weekly basis and help to stimulate the balance system."
Doctor Peter Cavanagh says space is a perfect environment for research because gravity and other variables disappear.
Peter Cavanagh, Ph.D.
Biomedical engineer
The Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, OH
"We already know that the level of exercise that is being done by the astronauts on the International Space Station is not enough to prevent bone loss. That gives us leads for osteoporosis prevention on earth."
Important because ten million Americans living with osteoporosis could benefit. Researchers say space exploration for medical advances is more than science fiction. It's becoming fact!
Interesting to note, bone is living material, and it needs a stimulus such as the force of gravity. If the stimulus is taken away, the bone begins to degenerate. When astronauts are in space, that can begin to happen in just two days. Researchers say if we are truly going to see flights to mars someday, the issue of bone loss must be addressed.
BACKGROUND: The Cleveland Clinic Foundation is a non-profit multi-specialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Now, they're looking to space for the next big advancements in medicine.
Peter Cavanagh, Ph.D., created the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Space Medicine to coordinate the Clinic's space-related medical research, specifically to research medical problems experienced during long-term space flight. The center works closely with engineers and scientists at Cleveland's NASA Glenn Research Center.
"The establishment of this center provides a means to strengthen linkages between The Cleveland Clinic and the emerging life science effort at Glenn Research Center," says Cavanagh. "We also believe there will be spin-offs that will improve the treatment of diseases on Earth."
Julian M. Earls, Ph.D., director of the Glenn Research center, agrees. "By combining the talent and knowledge of NASA scientists and engineers with the clinic's physicians, we can improve life on Earth and develop real solutions to the human health issues faced during long-duration space flight."
ASTRONAUT HEALTH: Researchers at the Center for Space Medicine are currently researching certain strange phenomena that occur when astronauts spend long periods of time in space. Cardiac functions are often disrupted as well as resulting blood flow. It is not yet known if the heart is actually weakened or why the weakening occurs. Bone loss also occurs rapidly when astronauts are in space ... much faster than in people on Earth.
Experiments include the Zero-Gravity Locomotion Simulator, a virtual reality treadmill, and a jumping machine named The Jolly Jumper that analyzes motion and its impact on bones.
COLLABORATED PROJECTS: The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and NASA's Glenn Research Center are collaborating on several different projects that will apply to both astronauts and those here on Earth. One project is to develop an artificial heart pump, a technique that places a microtexture on the surface of titanium biomedical implants. Another project is a computer assisted minimally invasive surgery, in cooperation with the Ohio Aerospace Institute and Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The Cleveland Clinic's Department of Biomedical Engineering was also recently awarded a three-year grant to study the effects of micro-gravity on bone strength.
Carolyn Jirousek, R.N.
The Cleveland Clinic
Department of Biomedical Engineering
9500 Euclid Ave. MC ND20
Cleveland, OH 44195
(216) 445-6671
jirousc@ccf.org
www.lerner.ccf.org/bme
Copyright © 2005 Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc.
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