ASTRONAUTS may soon have a portable MRI machine to keep an eye on their muscles and bones during a spell on the International Space Station. The custom-built, lightweight MRI should be ready to fly by 2016.
Bone and muscle loss in microgravity is a major health issue in orbit 鈥� astronauts are usually checked before and after missions. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 know how bone and muscle density change with time during a mission,鈥� says of Saskatchewan in Canada. 鈥淵ou can only guess with the before and after data we have today.鈥�
Hospital MRIs can weigh more than a tonne thanks to their strong superconducting magnet, making them impractical for the ISS. So Sarty and his colleagues have developed a technique called Transmit Array Spatial Encoding or TRASE, which uses fluid as a proxy for bone and muscle mass. Its novel radio wave timing technique means the device has much smaller magnets. At just 50 centimetres wide and with a mass of 50 kilograms, it is small enough to fit on an ISS experiment rack. Astronauts need only place their wrists inside to have their bones checked.
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The technology can also be used in far-flung places on Earth. 鈥淔ive years down the road I expect really portable MRIs based on TRASE to be everywhere,鈥� Sarty told the in Toronto, Canada, on 3 October. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l see new applications in the ER, in surgery, with telehealth in remote communities and even in ambulances.鈥�
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淢ini MRI to check bone health on space station鈥�