On 08.09.2022 we were allowed to conduct a CUREO®-VR-Workshop together with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in the aerospace medicine research facility :envihab of the Institute of Aerospace Medicine Cologne. The goal was to present and try out CUREO® on site to stimulate exchange, form new collaborations and develop research ideas for application in aerospace medicine. In addition, we evaluated whether the CUREosity VR system CUREO® could be used in clinical trials with healthy volunteers or patients.
Overall, we welcomed scientists* and staff* from the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine from many different fields to the workshop at :envihab. Among others, the departments of gravitational biology, clinical aerospace medicine, the study team and the space agency were represented. It started with the presentation of CUREosity and our VR therapy system CUREO® as well as a live CUREO® demonstration by Thomas Saur and Jannik Schmitz. Afterwards, all attendees could independently put the VR therapy systems they had brought along through their paces.
The subsequent exchange between CUREosity and the DLR departments was particularly exciting. This resulted in new points of contact for the VR system, including with Dr. Laura de Boni (head of the study team) and the cardiovascular department, where CUREO® is being further evaluated in a study under hypoxia conditions.
Together with the members of the centrifuge team, Michael Arz and Willi Pustowalow, Dr. Laura de Boni and PD Dr. Ruth Hemmersbach (Head of Gravitational Biology and Deputy Director of the Institute), we were able to visit the short-arm human centrifuge in the :envihab. In view of the National Centrifuge Program (NZP), other exciting topics were discussed that will be explored in more depth in the future. Among other things, the possible applications of CUREO® under different gravitational conditions on the short-arm human centrifuge were discussed, also with regard to new perspectives for assessments, training and therapy options for human spaceflight.
We had in-depth and exciting discussions with the initiator of the workshop in Cologne, PD Dr. Markus Braun (Program Manager Biosciences, Space Agency). Another great contact made possible by the Spacee2Health network.
Many thanks to the organizing team consisting of Alexandra Noll and Friederike Wütscher from the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine, who made the workshop possible on site. We enjoyed the joint planning and implementation very much.
About DLR
DLR is the Federal Republic of Germany's research center for aeronautics and space and conducts research and development in aeronautics, space, energy and transport, security and digitization. The German Space Agency at DLR is responsible for planning and implementing German space activities on behalf of the Federal Government. Two DLR project management agencies oversee funding programs and support knowledge transfer.
The DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine conducts interdisciplinary research at the interface between technical innovation and humans with the overarching goal of maintaining human health and performance in space, in aviation and on Earth. Here, the influences of environmental conditions on human health, living conditions and human performance are studied.
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