University of Queensland researchers are embarking on a project in conjunction with the European Space Agency (ESA) to examine the effects of microgravity on the human musculoskeletal system.
The research, funded by ESA will look at the effects of reduced gravity, in this case mimicked by strict bed-rest on a group of subjects to be performed in Berlin later this year.
The changes in muscle activity will be measured using models developed in the Physiotherapy Department by Associate Professor Carolyn Richardson as part of her work into degenerative low-back conditions.
"People with low-back pain exhibit many of the symptoms and abnormal patterns seen in astronauts returning from missions in space,” she said.
“These changes have fast become one of the key limiting factors in manned space exploration. Our anti-gravity muscles waste and lose the ability to function in a co-ordinated fashion.”
Dr Richardson said the ESA recognised this problem and were enthusiastic about studying these effects, and testing novel monitoring and rehabilitation measures.
The cross-disciplinary nature of the project has been a stimulus for collaboration between Dr Stephen Wilson from the University’s Centre for Magnetic Resonance (CMR) and the Biomedical Engineering program sponsored by the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (ITEE).
The team will now use monitoring equipment and imaging techniques developed here specifically for the bed-rest study in Berlin to measure muscle strength and electrical activity in manoeuvres designed to test the subject’s performance in so-called open and closed loop conditions.
Daniel Belavy, a physiotherapist, will set up the equipment and supervise the acquisition of data in conjunction with ESA scientists worldwide.
“We designed the tests in order to quantify the degree of deterioration in the anti-gravity system. We have already seen functional loss in some of the low-back pain subjects we are testing here as part of my postgraduate work,” he said.
This ground-based project under the auspices of ESA is encouraging and certainly a first for researchers outside of the European scientific community.
A recent invitation to extend the UQ research to astronauts on a “taxi flight” to the International Space Station is both a compliment and a dilemma.
Unlike European and US governments, Australia does not have a space research funding body for this type of work and the team are currently looking at various avenues to fund their expanding research.
Media: For more information, contact Dr Stephen Wilson (telephone 07 3365 4449, mobile 0415 473 872) or Brad Turner at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2659 or email: communications@uq.edu.au).
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