Procedures and Tools Are Being Developed For Surgery on Deep Space Missions - Part 2 of 2 Parts

Procedures and Tools Are Being Developed For Surgery on Deep Space Missions - Part 2 of 2 Parts

Part 2 of 2 Parts (Pease read Part 1 first)
    Bodily fluids will also behave differently while in space or on the surface of the Moon or Mars. The blood circulating in veins may adhere to surgical instruments because of surface tension. Floating droplets of body fluids may form streams that could block the surgeons view of the surgical field. Circulating air present in an enclosed cabin may also raise the risk of infection. Surgical bubbles for procedures and blood-repelling surgical tools may be the best solution.
    Researchers have already developed and tested a variety of surgical enclosures in microgravity environments. NASA has evaluated a closed system consisting of a surgical clear plastic overhead canopy with ports for the surgeons arms which would prevent contamination.
     When in orbit or settled on Mars, we would need a “traumapod” which would include radiation shielding, surgical robots, advanced life support and restraints. This would be a dedicated module with a filtered air supply and a dedicated computer that would be able to aid in diagnosis and treatment.
    The surgeries that have been carried out in space so far have indicated that a large amount of equipment will be necessary. This might be a luxury that a crew of astronauts would not have on a virgin voyage to Mars. You cannot take much equipment on a rocket. It has been suggested that a solution to this problem may be the use of a 3-D printer that could use native materials found on the surface of Mars to construct required surgical tools.
     Tools that have been 3-D printed have already been successfully tested by a crew with no prior surgical experience. A task was performed that was similar to surgery by cutting and suturing materials instead of an actual body. It turned out that there was no substantial difference between the time to completion with conventional surgical tools as opposed to the time required for 3-D printed surgical instruments such as towel clamps, scalpel handles and toothed forceps.
     Robotic surgery is another option that is routinely practiced on Earth and has been tested for manned planetary excursions. There is an underwater habitat called Aquarius located in the Florida Keys and operated by NASA. During a series of missions dubbed NEEMO 7 in the Aquarius habitat, a robot surgeon controlled remotely from another lab was used to successfully remove a gallbladder and kidney stone from a fake human body. However, operations performed on space mission by robots controlled by human surgeons on Earth may encounter difficulties due to communication lag times. A better option would be to have robot surgeon that were autonomous.
     There is a great deal of research and preparation for the possible event of a surgical emergency on a mission to Mars. However, there are many unknowns, especially when considering diagnostics and anesthesia. In the end, prevention is better than surgery. Selecting healthy crew members and developing the necessary engineering solutions that will be required to protect them in space will be critical.