10Meters News Service

March 2, 2002 – Off-the-shelf heart-monitoring technology is keeping tabs on the health of the seven astronauts aboard the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia.

It is the first time NASA has used commercially available heart-monitoring and information systems for its space program. The astronauts will spend 10 days in space on a $172 million mission to upgrade and repair the Hubble Space Telescope. Columbia lifted off on Friday.

Developed by GE Medical Systems Information Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company, the system will allow NASA to analyze cardiac data in real time during the astronauts' space walks.

The GE system includes both the monitoring device worn by the astronauts and the remote-analysis technologies being used at the NASA Johnson Space Center Houston and was integrated with NASA's communication and mission control infrastructure. Life Sciences Systems and Services, a NASA support contractor, will operate the system during this mission.

The GE technology tapped by NASA is currently being used by healthcare professionals in the U.S. and worldwide. The company estimates that its wireless system has helped create more than 2 billion cardiac patient records.

"This technology illustrates the value and capability of telemedicine – the ability to effectively read, monitor and analyze a patient's heart condition from miles away," said Joseph Hogan, president and CEO of GE Medical Systems.

GE Medical Systems Information Technologies is also providing the wireless monitoring systems and equipment for the first all-digital heart hospital in the U.S., slated to open at the end of 2002. (See "Building a Hospital with Heart & Technology.")

For more information, visit the GE Medical Systems Web site at www.gemedical.com.