The first medical X-ray ever taken, 130 years ago (left) and the first X-ray image taken in space (right) as part of the SpaceXray project. [Image courtesy of Fram2 crew and Flight Surgeon Kaleigh Stabenau]
The Fram2 mission had a four-person crew aboard a Dragon capsule traveling 17,500 miles per hour in a pole-to-pole orbit — 200 miles above the Earth’s surface — last week. SpaceXray was among 22 research studies on the mission that were related to human health and long-term space flight.
Waterloo, Ontario–based KA Imaging and Northbrook, Illinois–based MinXray provided portable, specialized X-ray generator and detector technology that had initially been developed for the battlefield, according to an MIT news release. Other SpaceXray partners included MIT, Mayo Clinic, and St. Louis University.
“To get hardware certified for spaceflight, it should be miniaturized and as lightweight as possible. There are also increased safety requirements because all devices work in a confined space. The increased requirements drive technology development,” said Lonnie Petersen, an MIT associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics who was a SpaceXray co-investigator.
Petersen added in the MIT news release: “I always say space is our best technology accelerator — this is also true for medical technology.”
KA Imaging CEO Amol Karnick told The Canadian Press that the X-ray receiver from the company was about the size of a large laptop and can differentiate between bones and soft tissue, a potentially useful tool to evaluate both people and equipment during spaceflight. However, before last week’s hand image, it wasn’t clear whether it was possible to conduct X-rays in space amid the natural background radiation.
“The first images we’ve seen don’t seem to have any of those issues,” Karnick said.
Peterson also mentioned the challenges of increased background radiation, as well as proper alignment of equipment and patient in zero gravity and the need for X-ray operation procedures that were simple and robust enough for a non-radiologist or technician.
“The crew learned how to take X-rays in one afternoon,” Peterson said. “It was done as a train-the-trainer model. The protocol was created in advance and the crew took images of each other, checked the quality, and stored the images. We have only seen one image so far, but from that, we are very impressed with the quality, the skills, and the dedication to advancing science by the crew.”
