The idea of a virtual doctor traveling with astronauts no longer belongs solely to science fiction. Future lunar and Martian missions could well carry an unprecedented medical assistance tool.
Space agencies are questioning how to ensure crew health when return to Earth is impossible. Telemedicine quickly reaches its limits in space. Indeed, a mission to the Moon can cause a 10-second delay for a radio round trip, and up to 45 minutes for Mars. Under these conditions, it is impossible to get immediate responses in case of emergency.
This is why NASA, which is preparing the Artemis program, has chosen to collaborate with Google to test an artificial intelligence device capable of helping to diagnose and treat diseases directly on site.
A digital medical assistant designed for space
The project is named
Crew Medical Officer Digital Assistant (or CMO-DA). This tool belongs to the family of clinical decision support systems, already used in hospitals. Its particularity lies in its autonomy and its ability to adapt to space conditions.
The assistant relies on natural language processing techniques and machine learning. It has been trained on a vast database of medical documents related to space flights. The goal is to provide immediate analysis of astronauts' health status.
The designers specify that the system does not replace a doctor. It rather aims to guide a crew member designated as medical officer. Decisions are thus based on data and predictions founded on symptoms described in real time.
Promising trials in different scenarios
Medical simulations have already been conducted to evaluate the tool's effectiveness. Three situations were tested: abdominal pain, an ankle injury, and an ear infection. The results showed good diagnostic accuracy, with rates up to 88% depending on the case (74% for abdominal pain, 80% for ear infection, and 88% for ankle injury).
The evaluations relied on the OSCE framework, used in medical training to measure a practitioner's ability to establish a diagnosis. The assistant was judged capable of reasoning reliably when faced with different symptoms.
Doctors and even an astronaut participated in this testing phase. Their feedback helped guide system improvements, particularly in terms of clinical reasoning and treatment planning.
Article author: Cédric DEPOND