Telemedicine is the capacity to practice medicine and provide medical consultation
and teaching at a distance through the use of telecommunications, telemetry,
and teleoperators. Telemedicine is a critical requirement in the delivery of quality
health care to astronauts living and working in space during extended space travel.
Out of necessity, NASA has always been a pioneer in the development of telemedicine,
and we continue to develop the advanced technologies, protocols, and standards that
make telemedicine even more effective and reliable. Our objective is to nurture and
develop satellite-related technologies and telemedicine applications that will also enhance and
promote the reliable delivery of health care into remote, underserved, and disaster-stricken areas.
Our current telemedicine application and demonstration projects, which highlight the
role satellites will play in future systems, include the
Spacebridge to Russia and Telemammography Using
Satellite Communications projects.
The "Telemedicine Spacebridge to Russia" testbed is a collaboration of
medical cases between American and Russian hospitals using a store-and-forward
scheme on the Internet. This testbed uses dynamic World Wide
Web applications and includes numerous types of medical multimedia data.
Screen shot of a remote Telemedicine Spacebridge consultation.
The current "Spacebridge to Russia" project is a natural extension of past
projects. The store-and-forward mechanism is sufficient for the majority
of medical cases (i.e. non-trauma). This testbed also helps develop a technique
that can be used to provide remote medicine to rural, underserved or
inaccessible areas.
All of the technology for this project is now
available. The development of the World Wide Web and its browsers provide
a consistent interface across non-heterogeneous platforms. This provides
a mechanism for transmitting multimedia data which is accessible to local
and remote users. Thanks to advancements in software, information can now
be dynamic unlike typical web pages (which are static). Desktop video conferencing
tools allow for real-time consultations and medical lectures.
The Spacebridge was developed between the United States
and Russia using an NSI network architecture to enable links. Because of
bandwith limitations between the two countries, there are two servers,
one at NASA Glenn Research Center and the other at Moscow State University.
However, there is a bi-directional mirror of data between the servers and
applications are available from remote locations using a dedicated or dial-up
line.
For more information, please visit NASA Headquarter's
telemedicine history page.
Michael A. Cauley
Michael.A.Cauley@grc.nasa.gov
Telephone: (216) 433-3483
Satellite telemammography has the potential to provide high-quality, low-cost
mammography screening and breast cancer
expertise to underserved populations. Because of this, there is a significant
market both in and out of the United States. Telemammography over satellite
can provide a significant cost saving and greatly improved health care
services in many of these underserved areas.
Telemammography team members man our booth at RSNA '97.
Important aspects of satellite telemammography
are being studied and demonstrated by NASA
Glenn Research Center, the Cleveland Clinic,
and the University of Virginia. Previous
research was done by General Electric and
Massachusettes General. Before
telemammography over satellite can attain its full potential as an alternative
method of cancer screening, more developments and technological advances
are needed. Follow-on experiments, studies, and a "satellite telemammography
network prototype" have been proposed.
Robert J. Kerczewski
Robert.J.Kerczewski@grc.nasa.gov
Telephone: (216) 433-3434
