Professor Maria Stokes and Dr Martin Warner from Health Sciences met astronaut Tim Peake at the ‘Harwell: Accelerating Healthcare Innovation’ event last week, sponsored by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Professor Stokes and Dr Warner presented non-invasive technologies that can be used to test the health status of muscles in field situations on Earth, with a view to testing astronauts in spaceflight. They explained how space and terrestrial research can benefit each other.
Their work, based in the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Sport, Exercise and Osteoarthritis, was highlighted by Professor Sir John Bell of the University of Oxford, during his Keynote Address.
The technologies demonstrated were the MyotonPRO device, for measuring stiffness and tone of muscles, and Rehabilitative Ultrasound Imaging for measuring muscle size and to provide feedback to re-educate muscle contraction during treatment. The photograph shows Dr Warner testing Tim Peake’s hand muscles using the MyotonPRO, while Prof Stokes explains how the device works.
