Long-distance health care such as telemonitoring and telerobotic surgery could be key to maintaining the wellness of future spacefarers and responding to medical emergencies on the International Space Station, the moon or Mars.

In October, Canadian Astronaut Dave Williams will lead a crew on an undersea mission to demonstrate and evaluate innovative technologies and procedures for remote surgery aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Aquarius Underwater Laboratory.

Two astronauts and a doctor will join Williams in the NEEMO 7 experiment, while Dr. Mehran Anvari, based in Hamilton during the mission, will use two-way telecommunication links to guide the aquanauts through diagnosis and surgery on a mock patient inside Aquarius. Another simulation will involve virtual reality control technology to guide telerobotic surgery on the mock patient.

Aquarius is a permanent underwater habitat and research laboratory, three miles off Key Largo and 62 feet beneath the surface.

From Science Daily.