Organizing Gravitational Hemorehabilitation of Astronauts During Prolonged State Weightlessness
摘要
The negative effects of prolonged weightlessness on astronauts’ blood are examined, including an analysis of existing methods to mitigate these impacts and the tools used for their implementation. However, creating artificial gravity aboard a space station through rotation or a full-sized short-radius centrifuge remains challenging both now and in the near future. Considering that blood is a liquid tissue of the body, it is proposed to implement hemorehabilitation for astronauts through the extracorporeal exposure of a portion of blood to artificial gravity using a small-sized, short-radius centrifuge. The feasibility of organizing gravitational hemorehabilitation of astronauts with a compact device, currently used in modern transfusiology for blood centrifugation at various speed modes, is demonstrated, incorporating an intermittent and programmable control system adapted for space station operations. Hemorehabilitation on board the space station can be carried out according to one of the following modes: simulated plasmapheresis, donor plasmapheresis, or therapeutic plasmapheresis. Additionally, if necessary, this device can facilitate the intravenous pump-dosed infusion of medications. It is noted that only practically healthy astronauts are permitted to fly to the space station; therefore, there are no contraindications to hemorehabilitation in the form of plasmapheresis.