Space Product Development (SPD)

Echocardiography uses sound waves to image the heart and other organs. Developing a compact version of the latest technology improved the ease of monitoring crew member health, a critical task during long space flights. NASA researchers plan to adapt the three-dimensional (3-D) echocardiogram for space flight. The two-dimensional (2-D) echocardiogram utilized in orbit on the International Space Station (ISS) was effective, but difficult to use with precision. A heart image from a 2-D echocardiogram (left) is of a better quality than that from a 3-D device (right), but the 3-D imaging procedure is more user-friendly.