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Distance medicine has been around for awhile. The flying doctors in Australia, for example, work with isolated
communities on remote sites. Research ships visit the polar ice caps for months at a time and medical emergencies have to be
dealt with on board. In the early days, it was done with wireless radio communication, sending samples of diagnostics and
medical investigations through the mail. Nowadays, it's done digitally and it's called telemedicine. This need to consult,
diagnose and deliver effective medical care from far-off, when the doctor is away from the patient, is very crucial on an
extended space flight. Scientists are looking at developing hardware and software to facilitate this, and much of this technology is
micro-sized, whether it's a case of storing blood samples so they will be fresh when a person arrives back three years later from
a trip to Mars, or installing a pill inside the body to take measurements of body temperature. Producer Judith Kampfner takes a look at Health Over the Horizon.
Health over the Horizon was produced by Judith Kaempfner. It was funded in part by WABE FM and The Moorehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired as part of the special series, Exploring Space Science, with additional support from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and WAMU.
Links:
Telemedicine Information Exchange
An international exchange of information of Telemedicine.
Alaska Telemedicine Project
A hub of information on Telemedicine in Alaska.
Telemedicine Today
A newsmagazine dedicated to the patients and practitioners of telemedicine.
Telemedicine Center
This is the website for the Telemedicine Center at East Carolina University.
Books:
 E-Health, Telehealth, and Telemedicine: A Guide to Startup and Success
by: Marlene M. Maheu, Ace Allen, Pamela Whitten 2001
A resource on how communication technology can transform healthcare.
 The Potential of Telemedicine: A Guide to Assessing Telecommunications for Health Care
by: Institute of Medicine Staff, Edited by Marilyn J. Field 1996
This book suggests a method for evaluation of different telemedicine practices.
 Telemedicine Primer: Understanding the Issues
by: Jim R. Reid 1996
A basic guide to understanding telemedicine and its implications.
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