🧠 AI in Space Medicine

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Welcome back AI prodigies!

In today’s Sunday Special:

• 🪐Forgotten But Not Gone

• 🤖AI Advances

• 🛰Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions

• 🔑Key Takeaway

Read Time: 6 minutes

🎓Key Terms

• Deep Learning: an AI technique that mimics the structure of the human brain by creating multiple layers of interconnected, artificial “neurons” that work together to solve a problem.

• Convolution Neural Network (CNN): an artificial neural network that leverages three-dimensional data from image classification and object recognition tasks to identify patterns in images.

• Graphics Processing Unit (GPU): a specialized computer chip capable of parallel processing (i.e., performing mathematical calculations simultaneously), making it ideal for complex applications like GenAI.

• Internet of Things (IoT): a network of physical devices embedded with sensors and software to connect, collect, and exchange data over the internet.

🩺 PULSE CHECK

🪐FORGOTTEN BUT NOT GONE

When we ponder the prospect of galactic exploration, we think about light-speed travel, colonization, alien life, and even asteroid mining. But we rarely talk about basic medical care. Undoubtedly, studying the human body in space is cumbersome. Not only is data collection limited, with just 670 people having reached space, but comparing any results to Earth-based studies is also fraught with error, as variables like microgravity severely complicate the picture. Fortunately, with cheaper, faster, and more sophisticated AI and Machine Learning (ML) tools, this is changing.

🤖AI ADVANCES

Transfer learning is reusing a pre-trained AI model on a new problem. Imagine you’re learning how to ride a motorcycle. You already know how to balance and use the brakes on a bicycle. So, you apply your knowledge of a bicycle to learn how to ride a motorcycle.

Here’s How It Works:

1. Pre-Trained AI Model: Train a large AI model on a vast dataset for a general task.

2. Transfer Knowledge: Instead of training from scratch, use the pre-trained AI to “transfer” the learned knowledge to a new AI model.

3. Fine-Tune the Model: Train the new AI model with a smaller dataset specific to the new task. Think of the pre-trained AI model as a college graduate with strong general skills. The fine-tuning is like specialized training for a new job.

Transfer learning has been utilized terrestrially for many medical applications, including abdominal ultrasound classification, physiological signals, and brain tumor classification. By mapping pre-trained AI models onto large terrestrial datasets that share similar features or areas of interest in space, transfer learning may address the issue of limited data in space medicine.

Separately, advancements in hardware (e.g., GPUs) mean faster data processing, pattern recognition, and decision-making, and IoT-enabled biomedical devices like Whoop, Fitbit, and Oura can provide real-time monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment recommendations, thus bypassing typical signal delays between astronauts and Earth, which can exceed 20 minutes during the journey to Mars. For example, these devices can detect irregular heart rhythms and potentially predict heart attacks in real time. This capability is not scientifically validated, but it offers a glimpse into the future of space medicine. However, despite such innovations, space remains a profoundly hostile environment.

🛰MODERN PROBLEMS REQUIRE MODERN SOLUTIONS

Microgravity, radiation, and isolation—three products of human physiology—probably aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. The latter two are top of mind for space scientists, as cancer and isolation-related diseases like depression and suicide are rising in developed countries here on Earth. Here’s a deep dive into why each threat is uniquely dangerous:

1. Microgravity: Often called “zero gravity” or “weightlessness,” microgravity is when objects experience weak gravitational forces. At first, it’s fun to float around, but the fun fades as your body deteriorates in several ways:

   • Significant Bone Loss: This effect is especially noticeable in weight-bearing bones like the pelvis and spine. As a result, the risk of fractures increases, and elevated blood calcium levels can lead to kidney stones.

   • Strength: Muscle mass and endurance decline significantly in the lower body. This muscle atrophy can hinder physical performance and raise the risk of injury.

   • Bodily Fluids: Shift towards the upper body, causing facial puffiness and possibly affecting speech-motor control. This fluid redistribution can also lead to balance issues and shifts in cardiovascular function.

   • Immune System: Microgravity can weaken the immune system, making astronauts more susceptible to infections. Studies have shown that some bacteria become more virulent in space.

2. Radiation: High-energy particles and abnormal electromagnetic waves have immediate and long-term effects. For context, radiation is measured in rem (i.e., Roentgen equivalent man). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a single dose of 1000 rem is lethal. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlines that any area with a projected 2 rem per year requires families to be relocated. On Mars, even in regions with lower radiation, astronauts are still exposed to 10 rem per year, significantly raising the risk of cancer with appropriate protection. Acute radiation exposure can cause diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, which are generally recoverable. However, astronauts could experience more severe effects during significant solar particle events, such as central nervous system damage or even death. Though we can predict such events with 85% accuracy, even such foresight fails to prevent harm.

3. Isolation: Confinement harms mental health and well-being, affecting individual and team performance. The lack of privacy, personal space, and certainty can raise anxiety and increase tension among the crew. Despite these risks, one Russian experiment showed promise. The ESKIS (“Experiment with Short-Term Isolation”) project involved a 14-day isolation with a mixed-gender crew conducted in a chamber of 18 square meters (i.e., 200 square feet) at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBMP RAS). This habitable volume is comparable to the living space of orbital stations. Despite the 14 days of isolation, monotony, and crowding, the mixed-gender crew of mostly inexperienced subjects successfully adapted to the stressful environment. The effective utilization of psychological support prevented most of the adverse psychophysiological effects of isolation, monotony, and crowding. Soon, AI may provide companionship to astronaut crews. In 2016, the European Space Agency (ESA), Airbus, and IBM developed Crew Interactive Mobile Companion (CIMON), a beta-testing version of an AI-powered robotic assistant for astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS). CIMON helps with tasks, provides tips, and offers companionship, aiming to reduce the stress and isolation of being an astronaut.

🔑KEY TAKEAWAY

As a society, how do we decide what to spend money on? We vote. But how should we? At the moment, most believe we are increasingly ill-equipped to answer such philosophical questions. 87% of Americans rate the “overall state of moral values” as only fair or poor, the lowest since the survey’s inception in 2002. Putting our widespread discontent aside, most can agree that if spending on space is to continue, then spending on space medicine should, too.

📒FINAL NOTE

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