NASA Assists Echocardiography Lab Design

Advanced Technologies

NASA Assists
Echocardiography
Lab Design

Mission control at Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) Emergency Preparedness Center was the model used to develop a cutting-edge echocardiogram facility through a partnership between JSC and the Heart Center at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Architects designing Texas Children’s current 1.2 million square foot expansion asked the Heart Center staff to identify existing facilities they believed were on the cutting-edge of technology.

"High on our list was NASA Mission Control," said Dr. J. Timothy Bricker, chief of cardiology at Texas Children’s Hospital. "We have to respond to a lot of information quickly, with no technical errors, just like they do." An echocardiogram is a non-invasive test that uses ultrasound to examine the structure and functioning of the heart for abnormalities and disease. Last year Texas Children’s read 10,000 echoes, some coming from various departments within the hospital and some from other hospitals in the region.

Staff at the state-of-the-art echocardiogram facility in the Heart Center at Texas Children's Hospital, modeled after Mission Control at Johnson Space Center's (JSC) Emergency Preparedness Center, will use their own "mission control" to study ultrasounds of children's hearts.

The immediate and productive chemistry between JSC and Texas Children’s staff produced a "mission control," a quiet, dark and intense reading room, lined with television monitors with screen images of children’s beating hearts.

"When you put creative, intelligent people together, sparks just fly," Bricker said. "We enjoyed getting their input, and you could see them tucking away things we do that might be of benefit to NASA. Their input was valuable as we looked at designing the lab of the future."

"One of NASA’s jobs is to make space technology available to improve life on Earth," said JSC director George W.S. Abbey. "We are delighted to see this technology being used at Texas Children’s to help young patients get well."

The partnership also brought positive responses from the staff of Texas Children’s Heart Center. "Our staff is excited, enthusiastic and confident that we have planned well for Texas Children’s function to take care of kids now and into the next century and to provide service to the hospital and region, and even worldwide," Bricker said.

Bricker also sees similarities between the work of his department and NASA. "Like NASA, pediatric cardiology doesn’t have a second chance. We both have to do things right the first time," he said.

"The result of the alliance," said Mary Beth Mauer, a director at the Texas Children’s Heart Center, "is a cutting-edge facility that allows for integrated training and operation, expandability, operating cost reduction and better patient diagnosis and care."

"NASA helped with flow of information and suggested technologies to help data travel from patient to doctor," Mauer said. Aspiring astronauts will appreciate another result of the collaboration with NASA. The Texas Children’s Heart Center plans to stock the new clinic’s waiting rooms with space-related toys.

For more information, contact John Ira Petty at Johnson Space Center, phone 281/483-5111, e-mail john.i.petty1@jsc.nasa.gov Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

NASA, International Scientists Examine Ozone

NASA scientists this winter have joined researchers from Europe, Russia, Canada and Japan to assess amounts and changes in the Arctic ozone, the part of the upper atmosphere protecting life below from radiation that can damage DNA molecules and lead to skin cancers.

Using a large suite of instruments, the collaborative campaign will measure ozone and other atmospheric gases using satellites, airplanes, heavy-lift and small balloons, and ground-based instruments. From November 1999 through March 2000, researchers will examine the processes that control ozone amounts during the Arctic winter at mid to high latitudes.

"The combined campaign will provide an immense new body of information about the Arctic stratosphere," said program scientist Dr. Michael Kurylo, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. "Our understanding of the Earth’s ozone will be greatly enhanced by this research."

The Earth’s ozone layer protects life below from the harmful ultraviolet radiation coming from the Sun. Very low levels of ozone were observed over the Arctic in several winters during the 1990s, raising concerns

A spectrometer to measure atmospheric gases is being loaded on NASA ER-2 aircraft. One of many instruments being used, it will sample free stream air as part of an international Arctic Ozone examination expedition.

that an Arctic ozone hole might be forming. Recent modeling work hassuggested that greenhouse gas warming might lead to larger-than-expected Arctic ozone losses in the future and also may delay the expected recovery of the ozone layer globally.

For more information, visit http://cloud1.arc.nasa.gov/solve/index.html and http://www.ozone-sec.ch.cam.ac.uk

Picture: A spectrometer to measure atmospheric gases is being loaded on NASA ER-2 aircraft. One of many instruments being used, it will sample free stream air as part of an international Arctic Ozone examination expedition.

January/February 2000

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