Wireless telemetry and Internet technologies for medical management: A Martian analogy

Background The NASA Haughton-Mars Project Base Camp on Devon Island, Canada (similar to 75 degrees north) was the site for transmission of vital signs from two "terranauts" (individuals who acted as Earthbound astronauts) bac k to the United States in (artificially delayed) real-time. Methods: The su bjects became 'physiologic ciphers' for status monitoring using readily ava ilable technologies that affordably captured and distributed vital signs to a variety of platforms. This study of nominal monitoring and simulated med ical emergency used wireless technologies and the Internet. Results. Basic vital signs and images can be sent using wireless topologies and completely automated functions . Due to the lightweight transport requirements, exist ing low data rate connections can easily handle the volume of traffic. Conc lusions. Monitoring the health of space travelers will be an important comp onent for both low-Earth orbiting spacecraft and long-term missions to dist ant planets. However, terrestrial applications represent the primary applic ation of such technologies because the home can be a remote and hazardous e nvironment as well.