Kim Gyu-seong, Professor at Inha University Hospital, “We need to turn our attention to space healthcare”
“Just 100 years ago, the sky was not owned by anyone, but now it has been completely incorporated into the concept of territory. The same goes for the universe. “At a time when space travel is already possible for civilians, discussions on ‘space healthcare’ should become more active.”
Gyu-seong Kim, Director of Inha University Aerospace Medical Science Research Institute (Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Inha University Hospital), appeared as a speaker at the ‘International Hospital and Health Tech Fair (KHF 2024): Digital Healthcare Summit’ on the 4th and spoke about the future growth of the healthcare industry. The importance of space healthcare was emphasized.
Director Kim has been leading the Aerospace Medicine Research Institute at Inha University since 2018, and is an aerospace medicine expert who served as president of the Korean Aerospace Medicine Association until last year. Director Kim’s research institute is leading domestic space medicine, possessing high-gravity equipment, zero-gravity simulation equipment, barometric pressure control equipment, and radiation irradiation equipment.
Director Kim explained, “Space medicine is a type of extreme environment medicine,” and “the essence of space medicine is to verify what happens when medicine is applied in the extreme environment of space.”
Why is healthcare needed in space?
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has presented five major hazards in space: space radiation, gravity, external hazardous environment, isolation, and distance from Earth.
However, recently, Elon Musk’s ‘Space Director Kim explains that the concept needs to be expanded from ‘space medicine’, which was studied for professionally trained astronauts, to ‘space health (healthcare)’ for civilians.
Director Kim said, “No matter how advanced the technology is, the space environment is a closed environment far from Earth, so medical self-sufficiency is necessary,” adding, “Although Korea prides itself on being one of the top seven space powers, there is little discussion on space health. . “This is because we do not recognize space as ‘our space,’” he said.
According to Director Kim, space healthcare is currently being developed with a focus on ‘disease monitoring.’ The explanation is that because it is difficult to get a checkup or surgery when a health problem occurs in a limited space, progress is being made to strengthen real-time monitoring and prevent serious problems.
“Space healthcare is not a problem far removed from daily life.”
Director Kim emphasized that space healthcare will bring about development in the overall healthcare industry. This is not a story about a distant future that is far from everyday life.
“If you think about the example of a microwave oven, it’s simple. Just as NASA came up with the initial idea of the microwave oven when they believed that cooking food using fire in a narrow spaceship was too risky, the development of healthcare that integrates cutting-edge technology will ultimately bring progress to all consumers.”
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), currently developed for detailed examination of patients, is also a representative medical technology that applies space science. MRI was first developed as a technology to improve the clarity of lunar pictures taken by the Apollo spacecraft, but has now become essential equipment in hospital radiology departments.
Among the things he is considering in the space healthcare field, Director Kim suggested technologies that will bring about changes in daily life, such as “technology to solve problems with sleeping or using cosmetics in space, body temperature preservation technology, and oxygen supply technology.”
Source: kormedi.com
