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Nuclear Medicine's Role in NASA

RADIONUCLIDE STUDIES IN ASTRONAUTS PROVIDE DATA ON MICROGRAVITY EFFECTS

he Lyndon B. Johnson Space Centerwill providea special tour covering medical and technical research for attendees of the Society's 32nd Annual Meeting in Houston, TX, this month. The U.S. National Aeronautic and Space Mministration (NASA) began using nuclear medicine techniques during the Gemini program in the early 1960s to determine the effects of weightlessness on plasma volume and red cell mass, explained Philip Johnson, MD, a researcher in NASA@s Medical Sciences Division. Dr. Johnson will give a presenta tion on the nuclear medicine aspects of the space program, which is now exploring a new gamma camera and radionucide for use in the Space Lab and Shuttle missions, during the Society's tour. Bed rest simulates space flight Bed rest is used to simulate space flight, explained Dr. Johnson. Since plasma volume decreases during bed rest, NASA scientists were not sur prised to find that it also decreased in Gemini IV astronauts, who under went iodine-131 human serum albumin studies. What was totally unexpected, said Dr. Johnson, was that when we calculated the volume of the red cell mass from the determined blood plasma volume, we found a decrease in red cell mass.
Subsequently, the crews of the

which showed a significant decrease in erythrocytes. I think we had the only NRC license that stated we could do studies at sea and in international waters:' said Dr. Johnson. NASA scientists are still trying to discover the cause of the decrease in red cell mass. After iron kinetics studies during SpacelabI in late 1983, the NASAteam found a fairly normal rate of iron incorporation, and dis counted the theory ofinhibited eryth ropoiesis. WithSpacelabIV, scheduledto fly in early 1988, NASA plans to run plasma volume, red cell mass, red cell survival, and iron turnover deter

minations in space, said Dr. Johnson, in both humans and rats. SpacelabIV passengers will also be injected with radioactive aldosterone to measure secretory rates. I thinkNASA has lead the wayin radioassays, said Dr. Johnson. Our methods ofdetermining red cell mass and plasma volume are more accurate than methods used elsewhere in clinical settings. Bone loss in weightlessness Immobilization and space flight entail considerable losses of trabecular bone, averaging about one percent per week, although the
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Gemini V and Gemini VII missions underwent, after splashdown, chromium-Si red cell mass studies

NASA astronaut Robeil A.R. Parker (left), mission specialist aboani Spacelab I,

monitors biomedical testing wilhfellow crewman UlfMerbold, a payload specialist

with the European Space Agency. The mission was in orbitfrom November 28 to

December 8@ 1983.

(Courtesy of NASA)

Volume 26 Number 6 June 1985

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degree of loss may vary greatly among individuals, reported Richard B. Mazess, PhD, associate professor of medical physics at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Mazessparticipated in a NASA program to study boneloss in bed rest subjects, Skylab astronauts, and pa tients with spinal cord injuries. The majoradvances of the past several years in bone measurement have direct applications for manned space missions, paraplegics, patients con finedtobedbydisease, andthe large populationof relativelyhypodynamic elderly individuals:' he said in an editorialin Calcified TissueInterna
tional (1).

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These advances in bone measure ment include dual-photon absorp tiometry and x-ray computed tomography. NASA conducted bone densitometry studies during the Apollo program(which includedthe first moon landing in 1968) and in Skylab missions. Slow-twitch muscles atrophy NASA is now actively pursuing the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) proceduresto measuremus
dc atrophy in legs, said Dr. Johnson.

Subject undergoinga study with a malfi-wii@pmpoiYionalgamma camera, developed through the NASA space pivgnzm. (Courtesy of NASA)

We see quite a bit of atrophywith bed rest:' he said, but we haven't tested spaceship crews yet. The slow-twitch muscles, which maintain a body's upright position, show quite dramatic changes in the amount of water absorbed when a subject stands after a period of bed rest,he explained. (Fast-twitch muscles are used in running.) Thntalum-178 shows promise A new low-energy radionuclide, tantalum-178, shows promise in po tential clinical applications in pediatric nuclear cardiology and in patient settings that requirea light weight portable imaging system. Mallinckrodt's Diagnostic Prod ucts Division will be supplying tan

talum processed columns to Method ist Hospital in Houston for research purposes. The radionuclide is generated there for use in clinical trials with a multi-wire proportional camera, also created through NASA research. Jeffrey Lacy, PhD, assistant profes sor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, playeda key role in design ing the camera, and is now compar ing the device to other imaging systems. Unlike the Anger camera, the multi-wire proportional camera does not use a crystal. A gas-filled com ponent with a grid serves as the detec tor, which is highly sensitive to low energy (under 100keV)gamma rays. With a prototype system, we're working at around 900,000counts per second, which is roughly a five-fold improvementover the single crystal, said Dr. Lacy. I also believe that the imaging capabilities with regardto uniformityandspatialresolutionare quite superior,@' he added. Dr. Lacy said that the camera weighs SO pounds (as opposed to several hundred pounds for a typical Anger camera) and occupies a vol ume of approximately15by 155

inches, lending itself to bedside imaging capabilities. We think it would be very prac tical for maneuveringaroundin the coronary care unit or the post surgical unitto get in and do a study andget out withoutmajorinconven iences to the patient:' said Dr. Lacy. The camera loses sensitivity and resolution with high-energy radio nuclides such as technetiurn-99m. Although tantalum-178is years away from possible commercial use, it showspotential as a valuablediagnos tic tool. In cardiovascular applications,for example, if it can be used for a multiple-gated acquisition and first pass studies with the same isotope within a relatively short time, and aid the physician in better patient management, then the multi-wire proportional carnera/tantalum-178 combination have an excellentchance to succeed in the market;' said Den nis C. Wolfe, product manager of in vivo radiopharmaceuticals at Mallinckrodt. References
1 Mazess RB,Whedon GD: Immobilization
andBone. Calcified Thcs Intl 35:265-267, 1983

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The Journal of Nuclear MedIcIne