GE Healthcare Vivid q to be used on space shuttle mission

GE Healthcare's Vivid q cardiovascular ultrasound system is to be utilised during the space shuttle flight to be conducted by NASA this week.

The device is being delivered to the International Space Station as a replacement for the now inoperable ten-year-old unit currently present in the human research facility of the installation.

It has been selected by NASA based on a rigorous programme of spaceflight hardware qualification and acceptance testing and will be used to monitor the effects of long-term microgravity space flight on astronauts.

Vivid q will provide NASA with new functionality such as panoramic scan options and may also be used in the organisation's New Millennium Observatory Network extreme mission operation.

Al Lojewski, vice-president and general manager of GE Healthcare's cardiovascular ultrasound unit, said: "We are honoured that NASA, a world leader in developing and testing true cutting-edge technology, has selected Vivid q as the cardiovascular ultrasound for this space mission."

Earlier this week, it was announced that a new sclerostin antibody from Amgen and UCB is set to be trialled during the space mission.