TELEANESTHESIA-TELESURGURY SIMULATION TRAINING & INNOVATIONS

BACKGROUND:

To date, there has been little study of space surgery in non-surgically or minimally-trained crew personnel in analog environments. The benefit to crews in remote, isolated and confined environments, both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial, argues strongly for the development of autonomous modalities for medical and surgical intervention deliveries that are well received by crew members, easily integrated into mission schedules and technological resources and can be demonstrated to be effective in preserving health and well-being over time. This evaluation will focus on the viability of disruptive innovative technologies, such as, 3D Virtual Reality (VR), Google Glass installed with pre-programmed training videos inclduing integration of cutting-edge EEG head scanners (MUSE, eMotive, Neuroelectric).

PROJECT:

The current ongoing pilot study and UTMB (Institutional review Board) IRB-approved research seeks to expand upon the previous pre-pilot study demonstration project with UKMars Crew 134 Analog Astronauts mission concerning technical skills acquisition via a telemedicine platform by non-medically trained crew personnel in analog space environments. The Pricinpal Investigators are Dr Sheryl Bishop PhD, (University Texas Medical Branch, UTMB) and Dr. Susan Jewell, MD, Founder, SSI and MarsWithoutborders, MWOB.

The goal of the study is to test various technologies that could be employed in the tele-guidance of non-trained personnel in the performance of simple anesthesia and surgical procedures on training mannequins and simulation tissues. The observation and immediate evaluation of individual crew personnel performance was conducted by Principal Investigator Dr. Susan Jewell, MD, Founder /Commander of MarsWithoutborders, MWOB, at Mars Desert Research Station, MDRS, with Crew145.  The training skills acquisition protocols integrated the use of technologies, such as,  3D Virtual Reality using Google’s I Am Cardboard googles,  in combination with pre-recorded basic surgical training videos on various medical scenarios requiring simple anesthesia and surgery procedures. All sessions were videotaped for asynchronous upload and comparative evaluation of the assistive technological approaches during the surgical procedures by a team of trained surgeons post-mission. The videos will be used for subsequent training and demonstration regarding the viability of these technologies to effectively train future remote teams.