NASA and Google are collaborating on the development of an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) medical assistant, named the Crew Medical Officer Digital Assistant (CMO-DA). This tool is designed to provide critical medical support during extended space missions, particularly for journeys beyond Earth's immediate reach, such as missions to Mars. The CMO-DA functions as a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS), utilizing natural language processing and machine learning to empower astronauts to autonomously diagnose and manage medical conditions when communication with Earth-based medical experts is significantly delayed or impossible. Communication delays to Mars can range from several minutes to over 20 minutes one-way, making real-time consultation unfeasible.
The CMO-DA is being developed on Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform and has been trained on extensive spaceflight literature and open-source data. Initial testing in simulated medical scenarios, including ankle injuries and ear pain, has shown promising results, with the AI achieving diagnostic accuracy rates between 74% and 88%, as evaluated by medical professionals and an astronaut. This initiative addresses the challenge of communication limitations over vast distances, aiming to provide greater autonomy for crews on future voyages. The project also acknowledges ongoing research into the health effects of prolonged spaceflight and varying gravity environments, with the goal of enhancing astronaut well-being as humanity explores further into the cosmos.