Under the influence of Earth’s gravity, our body’s blood naturally pools at the feet region, and the heart needs to put in the extra effort to move fluids to the upper vessels in the body. In microgravity we have a dilemma: the heart needs to work less, and pulse rate decreases. This may not seem a problem, but astronauts returning from orbit experience cardiac failure and muscle atrophy due to the decreased blood volume transported. The SPacemaker, a transcutaneous pacemaker, provides a supplementary stimulus to the heart’s own pacemaker, thereby avoiding pulse slowdown. Space voyagers remain fitter for longer—vital when considering the long journeys between our world and the others waiting to be explored.
Under the influence of Earth’s gravity, our body’s blood naturally pools at the feet region, and the heart needs to put in the extra effort to move fluids to the upper vessels in the body. In microgravity we have a dilemma: the heart needs to work less, and pulse rate decreases. This may not seem a problem, but astronauts returning from orbit experience cardiac failure and muscle atrophy due to the decreased blood volume transported. The SPacemaker, a transcutaneous pacemaker, provides a supplementary stimulus to the heart’s own pacemaker, thereby avoiding pulse slowdown. Space voyagers remain fitter for longer—vital when considering the long journeys between our world and the others waiting to be explored.
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