Concepts for image management and communication system for space vehicle health management

Abstract

On a space vehicle, the Crew Health Care System will handle minor accidents or illnesses immediately, thereby eliminating the necessity of early mission termination or emergency rescue. For practical reasons, only trained personnel with limited medical experience can be available on space vehicles to render preliminary health care. There is the need to communicate with medical experts at different locations on Earth. Interplanetary Image Management and Communication System (IIMACS) will be a bridge between worlds and deliver medical images acquired in space to physicians at different medical centers on Earth. This paper discusses the implementation of IIMACS by extending the Global Picture Archiving and Communication System (GPACS) being developed to interconnect medical centers on Earth. Furthermore, this paper will explore system requirements of IIMACS and different user scenarios. Our conclusion is that IIMACS is feasible using the maturing technology base of GPACS.