With the world’s attention on spaceflight following the historic Artemis II mission to the Moon, our researchers at the Kolling Institute are supporting the expert team working to protect the health of astronauts before, during and after their trips into space.
The institute’s Academic Director, Professor James Elliott, a member of NASA’s Spine Working Group, will return to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, this month for the three-day Spaceflight Human Optimization and Performance Conference. Insights from this work will play a critical role as NASA prepares for sustained lunar expeditions and future long-duration missions to Mars.
With astronauts exposed to extreme conditions including micro-gravity, the group hopes to increase our understanding of spinal stability, muscle health and impaired movement. This will be crucial to reduce the risks to crew safety, the continuity of missions and post-landing health and wellbeing.
Professor Elliott is keen to progress the work with collaborators from around the world.
“It is a very exciting time to be involved, and I’m thrilled to be part of the team dedicated to extending of our knowledge of the unique health challenges of spaceflight and how to minimise the risks,” he said.
The group will draw on learnings from the MuscleMap program, a world‑first radiology tool designed to measure muscle health. The program is being developed with support from more than 60 collaborators worldwide, including co‑founders Dr Ken Weber and Dr Eddo Wesselink from Stanford University, Professor Elliott and Associate Professor Marnee McKay from the University of Sydney.
Revolutionary approach to mapping muscle health
The MuscleMap tool will support the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal and neurological conditions, including osteoporosis, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, sarcopenia and frailty.
An estimated 4 billion people worldwide are impacted by these conditions, with healthcare costs in Australia alone set to triple to $21 billion by 2033.
MuscleMap will help detect disease earlier, enabling timely treatment and significantly better health outcomes.
Professor Elliott said we know these conditions often lead to a rapid and steady decline in muscle health, and this decline is evident by an increase in fat deposits in the muscles and the loss of muscle fibres.
“Currently, we can identify these changes by manually assessing CT and MRI scans, but the process takes many hours, making it unfeasible,” he said.
“MuscleMap however, will use available MRI and CT scans and artificial intelligence, to detect changes in muscle health rapidly and accurately.
“From athletes to astronauts and the general population, MuscleMap will accurately inform the journey from injury to repair, recovery and return to physical activity, informing personalised strategies to develop healthier muscle mass and improve general health and wellbeing.”
The long-term vision is for MuscleMap to operate as a true push-button system – where a clinician will perform a scan, and within minutes receive a comprehensive set of muscle-health metrics that can easily be interpreted in a clinical context.
MuscleMap is set to be broadly applied to rehabilitation, disease assessment and management, elite sports health and optimal performance.
