But wait a minute, things are not that simple. Diseases that are easy to deal with on the ground may become complicated in space, such as how to isolate infectious diseases and who will take the place of sick astronauts? Also, can patients be accurately diagnosed and treated in space, such as what will happen to X-rays, a commonly used perspective method on the ground? How to diagnose accurately? Can biochemical indicators on the ground be used in blood test? Can surgery be performed, especially in space? These all need to be discussed and experimented.
In order to explore whether the operation can be carried out in space, the former Soviet Union once carried out surgical experiments under the condition of gross negligence on a parabolic flight plane. It was an open operation on a rabbit after local anesthesia, which initially proved that surgery could be performed in weightlessness. However, the space on the spacecraft is narrow and it is not allowed to build a large operating room and operating table; At the same time, people's immunity is reduced during space flight, so the operation must be carried out in an absolutely sterile environment. According to these characteristics, the researchers developed an operating cabin for surgery in weightlessness, which is a sleeve-type antibacterial surgical cabin made of transparent fluoroplastics. Generally equipped with 2 ~ 3 pairs of surgical gloves. It can be modified and expanded at any time according to the needs of surgery. There is a cuff-type tourniquet and syringe inside, which can stop bleeding and inject anesthetic by inserting the part that needs hemostasis or surgery. Small and portable surgical instruments are attached to the bulkhead with velcro. During the operation, the doctor inserts his hands into the surgical sleeve and performs the operation with surgical instruments.
Space hospitals can only be located on large spacecraft. If astronauts on small spacecraft get sick, they still need to be sent back to the ground or sent to space hospitals for treatment.
In addition, the "space rescue vehicle" that rescues astronauts in distress in space can also take sick astronauts back to the ground. In the future, with the increase in the number of people entering space, especially the rise of space tourism, "space ambulances" can also be specially set up, which can be placed on the space flight platform or on the ground at ordinary times. They are often in a flying state and can go to the rescue once they receive the rescue signal. The establishment of space hospitals and space ambulances will relieve the worries of astronauts and tourists who get sick in space.
At present, the method of "one place, one day" combined outpatient service is adopted to deal with various diseases of astronauts in space flight, that is, the ground control center adopts remote sensing and telemetry to detect various psychological and physiological parameters of astronauts, and the astronauts are diagnosed on the ground when minor faults are found, and the astronauts are informed to take emergency medicine reserved in the cockpit. When major faults are found, they are recalled from space and treated in the ground medical center.
This method of space medical treatment, "Far water can't quench near thirst", has become increasingly unsuitable for long-term manned space flight and has become an urgent space medical problem. Former Soviet cosmonaut Lavekin and romanenko took the Soyuz TM-2 together on February 6, 1987. The spacecraft entered the "Peace" space station. It was originally planned to live in space for one year. As a result, Lavekin was ill and had to return to the ground in advance. It costs about $25 million to send sick or injured astronauts back to the ground. How to solve this thorny problem, it is reported that we are considering designing a space hospital, that is, a medical laboratory docked with the "Peace" space station, to provide medical services for astronauts flying in space for a long time. The structure of the space hospital being designed is circular, which consists of the following parts: first, the airlock cabin and the sanitary cabin connecting the track complex; The second is to study the cabin, mainly for medical and biological diagnosis and disposal of astronauts in the space station. A large number of scientific instruments will be installed in the cabin and designed as modules for rapid replacement according to the experimental plan; The third is the operating cabin of experimental surgery, where necessary surgical operations and animal experiments can be carried out, and table-type experimental containers, anesthesia instruments and other medical instruments will be installed in the cabin; The fourth is the biological chamber, which is equipped with various experimental organisms. Each chamber is separated by a solid door, and the medical data of various remote sensing and sensors are stored and processed by the computer. At that time, two doctors and biomedical scientists will conduct research here for three months. NASA has a similar idea. The space hospital will provide medical consultation services for astronauts in the following four aspects: First, check the astronauts' bodies regularly; The second is to treat astronauts and other personnel who are injured or sick; The third is to alleviate the physiological imbalance caused by astronauts' long-term microgravity; The fourth is to provide service facilities for astronauts to carry out sports activities. In addition, some "first aid treatment" is provided.
Whether the space hospital can perform surgical treatment is one of the topics of space medical treatment. According to the newspaper, the former Soviet Union has made some advanced experiments in this respect. They used a special transparent container to locally anesthetize rabbits on a parabolic flight plane, and then performed laparotomy. It is preliminarily proved that surgery can be performed under weightlessness. Accordingly, aerospace medical experts are conceiving to manufacture two kinds of cuff-type inflatable transparent operating chambers for antibacterial surgery, which are equipped with surgical gloves and small surgical instruments, so as to perform surgery in the operating chambers to prevent people's immune response from declining when they are in space. This kind of operating cabin is also equipped with cuff tourniquet and syringe. If the arm is injured, you can put it in to stop bleeding first, and then inflate the operating cabin. Doctors can insert their hands into the operation and apply surgical instruments to perform the operation. Preoperative preparation and local anesthesia can be carried out in the operating cabin.
In order to rescue astronauts who suddenly fell ill in orbit, the United States is equipping a space ambulance. It was successfully modified by a space shuttle. Once the distress signal came from the orbit, it could be launched and taken off immediately for space rescue. It has the ability to rescue patients during the flight, and then safely send patients to the ground medical center for treatment.