Clinical validation of the earlobe arterialized blood collector.

摘要

Important information regarding astronaut health can be obtained from arterial blood variables. To date, there is no direct way of measuring them in microgravity for two main reasons: the difficulty of sampling arterial blood and the incompatibility of blood analyses equipment in such an environment. It is not currently possible to collect arterial blood in space as it can result in many undesirable complications, such as pain, infection, hematoma, limitation of movement, and contamination of the atmosphere. Furthermore, a medically certified crewmember would be required to perform the procedure. To overcome the drawbacks associated with arterial blood collection, the gold standard method, an alternative procedure was developed using arterialized blood collected from the ear lobe (1-5).