TY - JOUR
T1 - The Case for Expanding Visual Assessments During Spaceflight
AU - Waisberg, Ethan
AU - Ong, Joshua
AU - Masalkhi, Mouayad
AU - Zaman, Nasif
AU - Kamran, Sharif Amit
AU - Sarker, Prithul
AU - Tavakkoli, Alireza
AU - Lee, Andrew G.
N1 - Funding Information:
Although all of the aforementioned functional assessments of vision would be highly useful for astronauts, significant time and space limitations exist on the ISS. The addition of four additional tests of visual function may be a barrier given the current technology onboard the ISS. To address this issue, a head-mounted, multi-modal visual assessment system is currently being built to help detect the subtle visual impacts of SANS. This project is supported by NASA with the goal of developing a non-invasive framework for astronaut vision. ,
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine.
PY - 2023/8/27
Y1 - 2023/8/27
N2 - Spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS) is one of the potential barriers to human long-duration spaceflight (LDSF), including a manned mission to Mars. While a large barrier, the pathophysiology of SANS is not well understood, and functional and structural findings from SANS continue to be further characterized. Currently on the International Space Station (ISS), scheduled visual assessments are static visual acuity, Amsler grid, and a self-reported survey. Additional visual assessments may help the understanding of this neuro-ophthalmic phenomenon, as well as the effects of spaceflight of overall ocular health. In this paper, a case is made for expanding scheduled visual assessments to include dynamic visual, contrast sensitivity (CS), visual field testing, and virtual reality-based metamorphopsia assessment during spaceflight. These further assessments may play a key role in helping to determine the structural and functional changes associated with SANS, which are crucial to maintain astronaut vision during LDSF, as well as for developing countermeasures. Finally, a brief discussion is provided about current challenges to expanding visual testing during spaceflight and potential solutions to these barriers, specifically head-mounted visual assessment technology.
AB - Spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS) is one of the potential barriers to human long-duration spaceflight (LDSF), including a manned mission to Mars. While a large barrier, the pathophysiology of SANS is not well understood, and functional and structural findings from SANS continue to be further characterized. Currently on the International Space Station (ISS), scheduled visual assessments are static visual acuity, Amsler grid, and a self-reported survey. Additional visual assessments may help the understanding of this neuro-ophthalmic phenomenon, as well as the effects of spaceflight of overall ocular health. In this paper, a case is made for expanding scheduled visual assessments to include dynamic visual, contrast sensitivity (CS), visual field testing, and virtual reality-based metamorphopsia assessment during spaceflight. These further assessments may play a key role in helping to determine the structural and functional changes associated with SANS, which are crucial to maintain astronaut vision during LDSF, as well as for developing countermeasures. Finally, a brief discussion is provided about current challenges to expanding visual testing during spaceflight and potential solutions to these barriers, specifically head-mounted visual assessment technology.
KW - SANS
KW - head-mounted technology
KW - spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome
KW - visual assessments
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U2 - 10.1017/S1049023X23005964
DO - 10.1017/S1049023X23005964
M3 - Article
C2 - 37365808
AN - SCOPUS:85164134444
SN - 1049-023X
VL - 38
SP - 518
EP - 521
JO - Prehospital and Disaster Medicine
JF - Prehospital and Disaster Medicine
IS - 4
ER -