The following study was conducted by Scientists from Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 485 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY, USA; Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Houston, TX, USA; MEIT, Houston, TX, USA; Infinx Healthcare, Austin, TX, USA; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Houston, TX, USA; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA; Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 485 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY, USA; Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA; Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 485 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY, USA; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Study is published in Nature iScience Journal – Cell Press Publishing as detailed below.
iScience Journal – Cell Press Publishing (2021)
Teleguided Self-Ultrasound Scanning for Longitudinal Monitoring of Muscle Mass During Spaceflight
Highlights
- We examined teleguided self-ultrasound to monitor leg muscle size on the ISS
- Muscle thickness ultrasound does not detect change in muscle size during spaceflight
- Panoramic ultrasound accurately monitors change in muscle size compared to MRI
- Teleguided self-ultrasound reveals upper and lower leg muscle loss during spaceflight
Summary
Loss of muscle mass is a major concern for long duration spaceflight. However, due to the need for specialized equipment, muscle size has only been assessed before and after spaceflight where ~20% loss is observed. Here, we demonstrate the utility of teleguided self-ultrasound scanning (Tele-SUS) to accurately monitor leg muscle size in astronauts during spaceflight. Over an average of 168 ± 57 days of spaceflight, 74 Tele-SUS sessions were performed. There were no significant differences between panoramic ultrasound images obtained by astronauts seven days prior to landing and expert sonographer after flight or between change in muscle size assessed by ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. These findings extend the current capabilities of ultrasound imaging to allow self-monitoring of muscle size with remote guidance.
Source:
iScience Journal – Cell Press Publishing
URL: https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(21)00312-6
Citation:
Scott, J.M., Downs, M., Martin, D.S., Hougland, E., Sarmiento, L., Arzeno, N., Pettit, D.R., Ploutz-Snyder, R., Cunningham, D., Jones, L.W., Do, R., Ploutz-Snyder, L., 2021. Teleguided self-ultrasound scanning for longitudinal monitoring of muscle mass during spaceflight. iScience 24(4).
