This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: An eye surgeon with a passion for space since childhood predicts that as astronauts start to make journeys to the moon and Mars in the near future, eye surgery in space will eventually become a necessity. Morgan Micheletti from the Berkeley Eye Center, Houston, Texas, U.S., told the 44th Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) today (Sunday) that cataract surgery, in particular, will be needed as people travel through space and stay in space stations for longer periods of time.
Therefore, it was vital to know how medical supplies such as intraocular lenses (IOLs) and the other equipment needed for surgery could best be packed, transported, stored and protected from the space environment. To investigate this, he sent IOLs made of different materials into space as part of the Joint Assessment Of Material Exposure In Space (JAMES) project. "I believe someone will need cataract surgery on Mars in my lifetime," Micheletti said.
"A Mars transit can require almost a year, and returning to Earth for a vision-limiting cataract, injury or other surgical eye problem may not be realistic. Eventually, treatment will need to happen where the patient is. "Astronaut candidates do not need perfect uncorrected vision, and refractive correction or certain prior refractive surgeries can be compatible with selection.
More importantly, good vision at launch does not prevent aging, radiation exposure, injury or disease later. As human spaceflight expands beyond career astronauts, the traveler population will also become more diverse. "This work matters now because these systems must be designed and validated long before the first patient needs them.
We cannot wait until someone is on Mars to ask whether the lens, equipment and sterile supplies survived the trip." The JAMES project flew 135 unpackaged IOLs to the International Space Station (ISS). They were placed in special carriers situated in three different locations on the outside of the ISS. The carriers were called CLAIRE (Carrier for Lens Analysis in Interstellar Research Expeditions), and the three positions on the ISS were Ram (where the lenses were exposed to high atomic oxygen), Zenith (where the lenses were exposed to substantial ultraviolet (UV) from the sun) and Underdeck (where the lenses were partially shielded from direct atomic oxygen and solar UV by being mounted under the exposure platform).
"This was not intended to recreate how a packaged IOL would normally be shipped to Mars. The purpose was to identify potential failure modes under harsh exposure so we can begin designing better packaging, shielding, storage and material selection strategies. Testing the lenses inside the ISS would not answer the same question because the interior is controlled and pressurized.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
