Over two decades of human spaceflights on the International Space Station (ISS) have strengthened our connection with space. Many advances in healthcare got their start with astronauts. Over the years, technology developed to support and sustain a human presence in outer space has been transferred to use on the ground. Examples are not limited to telemedicine, insulin pumps, invisible braces, 3D food printing and water filtration systems.
To date, space is the next frontier in our quest for better health. The increasing number of services relying on space assets and the inclusion of the public in commercial human spaceflights opens new opportunities in healthcare. The childhood bone cancer survivor, Hayley Arceneaux, joined the private Inspiration4 spaceflight in 2021 and became the first person with a prosthetic body part to go to space. Soon, the European Space Agency will start the Parastronaut Feasibility Project, opening space to people with a disability. Furthermore, new endeavors are part of governmental programs of human exploration. The ultimate goal of human exploration of space is shifting from having a continuous human presence in space to having a permanent human presence in space, starting with the Moon. The NASA Artemis program will return astronauts to the lunar surface within the current decade.
We are about to witness a dramatic advance in healthcare that builds on space sciences, medicine, and engineering. Healthcare innovation is increasingly multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary, and space is becoming an important enabler of its progress. This special issue focuses on the latest developments and technologies about Healthcare for Space, Space for Healthcare, specifically on innovation, validation, and demonstration in healthcare applications.
Only high-quality and original contributions will be considered. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following healthcare disciplines, such as engineering, medicine (including space medicine, environmental health, and precision medicine) and biology:
- Novel developments, technology and applications for humans in space (as on the ISS or on the surface of a celestial body).
- Novel developments, technology and applications for humans in extreme, confined, isolated environments on Earth, such as underwater environments and winter deserts.
- Novel developments, technology and applications involving humans exposed to an altered gravitational field (such as reduced gravity and hyper gravity) or relevant environmental conditions (such as high altitude) or other environments or scenarios that introduce relevant physiological and/or psychological phenomena (such as bed rest studies).
- Novel developments, technology and applications for humans on Earth built on space technology or rely on space assets (such as satellites) to function, such as disaster management technology.
- Novel/improved approaches, experimental/theoretical methods, treatments, experimental/clinical procedures, tools, systems and services essential for supporting and sustaining human life under the relevant conditions mentioned above.
- Innovation, discoveries and new paradigms involving human life in space and/or the connection with human life on Earth and outer space.
- New public benchmarks and literature reviews in this field.
Guest Editor:
Ilaria Cinelli PhD FAsMA
Presidency of the Aerospace Human Factors Association (2018-2021)
Member-at-Large of the Aerospace Medical Association’s Council (since 2018)
Member of the Steering Committee of The Mars Society (since 2018)
Space4Women Mentor for the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (since 2020)
European Representative of the AdCOM IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (from 2022 on)
Email: i_cinelli@yahoo.it
Submission Information:
Deadline: 31 October 2022
Submit through ScholarOne: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/oj-emb
Please choose the “Special Theme” paper type.
Submissions are accepted in either the Science Template or the Technology Template.
Submission questions? karakmcarthur@gmail.com