Think about this nightmare situation. A crew of NASA astronauts are onboard a spacecraft hurtling in direction of Mars on one of many first human-crewed missions to the pink planet. Out of the blue, one of many crew has a medical emergency. They could even cross out, to allow them to’t inform their fellow crewmembers what’s fallacious. Possibly they’re having a coronary heart assault, or an aneurysm, or perhaps it’s one thing extra mundane like dangerous house ice cream? There may be medical gear on board the ship and a flight surgeon on name again on Earth, however, relying on when the emergency takes place throughout their journey, it would take a half hour or extra for the crew to speak with the physician. By the point lifesaving medical recommendation is acquired, it may be too late.
One resolution to this dilemma, which might turn out to be a really actual chance as NASA packages like Artemis get able to ship people to the Moon and finally Mars, could be to present astronauts each primary and superior medical coaching. That method, they’ll triage and even start remedy in emergencies lengthy earlier than phrase reaches Houston about the issue.
That was the purpose of a 2019 grant award from the Translational Analysis Institute for Area Well being, or TRISH, to construct a digital human simulation framework for NASA to assist enhance medical care throughout house missions. The top outcome needed to be as ultra-realistic as potential. As a result of finally, lives would possibly rely on the standard of that coaching.
The award was received by an organization referred to as Degree Ex, which makes use of online game know-how to serve the medical group. From digital actuality surgical procedure video games to cell phone titles that assist prepare dermatologists utilizing AI-generated pores and skin ailments, Degree Ex isn’t any stranger to utilizing entertaining, leading edge online game know-how to coach folks about very severe topics.
This system funded by the grant award is now full, and is scheduled to be part of the upcoming SpaceX Polaris Daybreak mission that’s set to orbit the Earth for a number of days in March.
NextGov caught up with Degree Ex founder and CEO Sam Glassenberg to speak about making video video games to assist essential missions, medical coaching in house and the way know-how would possibly take these very severe video games and simulations to the subsequent stage.
NextGov: Are you able to first inform us just a little bit about your background in video video games and recreation know-how?
Glassenberg: I began my profession at LucasArts, the place I created Star Wars video games for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles. From there I served as a frontrunner of the DirectX Graphics crew at Microsoft, the place our focus was to advance the visible realism of video video games throughout the business. Previous to beginning Degree Ex, I used to be the CEO of the main unbiased recreation writer in Hollywood, releasing video games primarily based on well-liked movies like The Starvation Video games and Mission: Unattainable.
NextGov: When and the way did you determine to discovered Degree Ex and begin making extra severe video games and simulations?
Glassenberg: I’d like to say that this was some grand concept that I had, however actually this firm was based utterly accidentally—aided by a little bit of parental guilt. Coming from a household of medical doctors, I used to be at all times seen because the shame for bucking that development and making video video games for a residing. My father stored pushing me to go to medical college till I used to be about 30 years outdated, and when that wasn’t possible anymore he took a brand new method.
An anesthesiologist by commerce, he referred to as me up asking if I might put this gaming “nonsense” to good use. He needed me to make a recreation to coach his colleagues to carry out a fiberoptic intubation—a difficult process that even skilled anesthesiologists can wrestle with. He stated, “make me a recreation that may run on their telephones—I don’t need to have to pull anybody to the coaching heart.”
So that is what I did. I sat down for 3 weekends to throw this recreation collectively to get my father off of my again. Three years later, he referred to as me to test on the sport, and after I checked the Apple retailer, there have been over 100,000 downloads from medical doctors, nurses and airway specialists.
Clearly there was large demand for this and a possibility for some actual affect.
NextGov: Why is it a great factor to make use of online game know-how for medical coaching? How does typical online game know-how examine with what’s utilized by current medical simulations?
Glassenberg: The video video games business is a long time forward of medical coaching by way of graphics know-how—even earlier than you begin speaking about XR headsets and whatnot. We’ve been busy closing that hole—constructing on high of the newest recreation know-how to create ultra-realistic affected person eventualities.
For instance, we’ve constructed on high of online game pores and skin rendering know-how to create a platform that enables us to recreate any pores and skin illness on pores and skin of any colour and any physique half—and it’s indistinguishable from images. We’ve used graphics {hardware} honed for video games to do the whole lot from real-time fluid and tissue simulation to tracing ultrasound waves and x-rays.
We’ve additionally constructed upon cloud gaming know-how to create the primary and solely cloud gaming platform for healthcare. This permits a number of medical professionals to remotely study, diagnose and carry out surgical procedure on digital sufferers simulated within the cloud. Since all of the computing is cloud-based, customers can entry it from any telephone, pill or desktop net browser over Zoom or Microsoft Groups. There’s no want to put in any software or have any further {hardware}, like a VR headset, available.
NextGov: Inform us in regards to the TRISH grant program for NASA. How actual did they want the sport to be with a purpose to assist prepare astronauts?
Glassenberg: Extremely-realism was very important to the Digital Human Simulation Framework venture, to ensure that customers to precisely establish anatomy and medical circumstances frequent in house. Such medical circumstances can embody Spaceflight Related Neuro-ocular Syndrome, or SANS; cardiac rhythm issues and adjustments within the form of the center as a consequence of extended microgravity publicity, particularly atrial fibrillation; and opposed well being results as a consequence of host-microorganism interplay, particularly respiratory infections.
To this finish, the venture required aggregation and visualization of knowledge from spaceflight medical analysis research, terrestrial medical analysis and finest observe pointers. Degree Ex has medical professionals on workers, a doctor advisor and a big contributor community comprised of lots of of specialists throughout the globe. For this venture, we additionally consulted with specialists in ultrasound mechanics and scientific radiology from the College of Illinois Chicago, NASA and the KBR firm.
Our analysis and growth crew created a few of the most superior real-time ultrasound simulation know-how accessible up to now and demonstrated its software inside a digital headset platform. Our tech primarily tips graphics {hardware} that’s designed to simulate seen gentle in video video games to as a substitute hint ultrasound waves, recreating the advanced artifacts that outcome from the whole lot from acoustic shadowing—as a result of, sure, sound casts a shadow—to ringdown results brought on by ultrasound waves echoing inside tissues.
To coach crews on these kind of dangers, our coaching situation offers customers with an built-in scientific coaching surroundings that features scientific determination mechanics, digital astronaut fashions and real-time ultrasound simulation know-how that provides the extent of ultra-realism essential to picture and establish completely different circumstances.
NextGov: How is the Degree Ex simulation and know-how getting used on the upcoming Polaris Daybreak mission?
Glassenberg: Crews have to be ready to diagnose and deal with themselves as medical points come up throughout house exploration missions, and clever medical imaging options are integral in constructing non-physician astronauts’ understanding of adjustments occurring contained in the physique when they’re hundreds of miles from dwelling.
Constructing on our prior work and in collaboration with TRISH and KBR, the answer we constructed for the Polaris Daybreak mission consists of two components—each aimed toward enabling astronauts to raised monitor their well being and maximize their security in house. First, there’s the pre-flight orientation and coaching information to show the crew the right way to use a handheld Butterfly iQ machine for ultrasound imaging that will likely be onboard the spacecraft. Then, through the five-day orbit mission, the crew will use just-in-time coaching and procedural steerage that we created to carry out the ultrasound procedures on themselves and accumulate knowledge. So as to study extra about how the zero gravity surroundings influences the human physique, the crew will likely be monitoring their blood move patterns each day.
This experiment may even check the efficacy of utilizing digital coaching options like video video games for just-in-time coaching on medical know-how and procedures.
NextGov: That each one sounds actually wonderful. Do you assume that online game know-how and these sorts of life like medical simulations will turn out to be a requirement for conserving future astronauts protected in house?
Glassenberg: If house journey goes to turn out to be commercialized, we’re going to want options to shortly prepare laypeople the right way to take care of medical emergencies in resource-constrained environments. It will likely be a very long time earlier than we see an MRI machine up in house, however with just-in-time coaching on a handheld ultrasound machine, we are able to tackle a few of deep house’s very particular healthcare coaching wants.
There’s additionally the problem of coaching time. Astronauts skilled for years for the eight day Apollo missions. There’s no time within the coaching routine for upcoming multiyear Mars missions to offer astronauts with a medical diploma in house well being. In lots of instances, astronauts might want to prepare independently on a just-in-time foundation as points come up. This digital coaching platform is designed to just do that.
Whereas conventional in-person coaching typically requires costly simulation labs, which aren’t at all times accessible and should require journey, our video video games may be accessed wherever, at any time. Moreover, the digital nature of our platform permits us to simply replace and scale the video games to deal with the newest advances in a selected process or tailor them to particular wants.
John Breeden II is an award-winning journalist and reviewer with over 20 years of expertise protecting know-how. He’s the CEO of the Tech Writers Bureau, a gaggle that creates technological thought management content material for organizations of all sizes. Twitter: @LabGuys