Standardization of Equipment and Methods of Medical Control in Manned Space Flights and Issues of Telemedicine

Abstract

Since April 1961, all manned space flights have been accompanied by medical control ensuring flight safety. Medical control in space flight has a technological and medical methodology that allows, at a distance from medical specialists, to make an adequate medical decision for the current situation. This work would be impossible if there were no measures taken to unify and standardize equipment and techniques. Telemedicine technologies developed on the basis of flight medical control. The origin of the word telemedicine comes from the expression «telemetric medical information», adopted in space technology. The issues of mutual development and mutual enrichment, standardization of methods and equipment of two areas of medicine, medical control in extreme situations and general telemedicine are considered in this article.