NASA and Google are working together to test AI-powered medical assistants designed to support astronauts on long-term missions that make communication with the Earth slower and impossible to provide real-time medical consultations.
Committed to a new era of human spaceflight using the Artemis program, NASA is working with Google to test the proof of concept for a crew medical assistant (CMO -DA), a type of clinical decision support system (CDSS).
Digital assistants provide medical support to astronauts when manipulating beyond low Earth orbit, such as missions to the Moon and Mars, allowing crews to autonomously diagnose and treat symptoms.
“AI systems trained in spaceflight literature use cutting-edge natural language processing and machine learning technologies to safely provide real-time analysis of crew health and performance,” a Google representative said in a statement on August 8th.
The initial results indicate a reliable diagnosis potential based on reported symptoms, according to the statement. NASA and Google are currently working with doctors to further test and refine the model.
Deep sea missions, including the Moon and Mars, can include communication delays (up to 45 minutes round trips on the red planet), making real-time consultations impossible. And a quick return to Earth is clearly not an option in such cases.
Therefore, onboard AI assistants can help you fill a critical gap. This technology can be used in remote and harsh environments on the planet where access to trained medical professionals is limited.
