Dr Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist on how CPR can work differently in space

Space tourism is now a thing, and it probably won’t be too long before that tour consists of an orbit around the moon. We already have a situation where astronauts spend months living in space stations far from Earth.   

Now, imagine someone suffers a cardiac arrest. 

On Earth, CPR is a life-saving skill we take for granted. Push hard and fast on the chest to keep blood flowing to the brain and organs until medical help arrives. But in space, things get complicated very quickly. 

Research published in the journal Microgravity are now exploring a question most of us have never considered: how does blood move through the body during CPR when gravity is reduced? 

CPR relies heavily on gravity and body positioning here on Earth. When you compress someone’s chest, you are helping pump blood through the cardiovascular system toward vital organs like the brain. 

But in space, astronauts float.

Without gravity, rescuers can’t brace themselves properly, and the body itself behaves differently. Fluids shift upward toward the head, the heart can shrink slightly over time, and circulation changes in ways scientists are still trying to fully understand. 

That means traditional CPR techniques may not work as effectively in reduced gravity environments like the moon, Mars, or spacecraft. 

Researchers have proposed several “space CPR” methods over the years, but there has been a major problem: nobody has really been able to measure what is happening inside the body during those attempts. 

The Concordia research team developed a remarkably advanced CPR simulator designed specifically for hypogravity environments. 

At first glance, it looks like a medical training mannequin. But inside, it contains a surprisingly realistic artificial cardiovascular system. 

Instead of simply measuring how deep chest compressions are, the system measures whether blood is actually moving effectively through the body. 

To test the system, the researchers took their mannequin aboard a specially modified Falcon 20 aircraft used for space science experiments. 

The plane flies in steep arcs called parabolic flights. During parts of the flight, passengers experience brief periods of reduced gravity, similar to what astronauts feel in space. 

During these moments of hypogravity, the mannequin received automated chest compressions while sensors tracked how fluid moved through its artificial arteries. 

One of the key measurement points was the carotid artery, the major vessel that carries blood to the brain. 

The team observed measurable differences in blood pressure compared with Earth-based CPR. Systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, pulse pressure, and mean arterial pressure were all higher in reduced gravity conditions. 

The body appears to respond differently to CPR in low gravity than it does on Earth. 

That’s an important discovery because it suggests Earth-based assumptions about resuscitation may not fully apply in space. 

As humans spend more time away from Earth, medical emergencies become inevitable and unlike on Earth, there is no ambulance coming. 

Future astronauts may need to handle life-threatening emergencies entirely on their own, with limited equipment and delayed communication with Earth. 

Understanding how CPR works in reduced gravity could one day save lives millions of kilometres from the nearest hospital. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Joining us now is our science correspondent, Doctor Michelle Consent,
Doctor Michelle.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Di Consent, Good morning, Good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
You've got a really interesting study for us today. And
as I was reading through it, I keep thinking to myself,
it's about keeping humans healthy in space. But I keep
thinking myself, we have been sending humans to space for
a while now. I would have thought they would have
sorted this issue out.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Film me too, which is why I'm sharing this study.
So it's in the journal micro Gravity and you can
read it. It's published online. And basically the question is,
if somebody has a heart attack while they're in space,
CPR might not work. And I was like, what do
you mean, Like, of course it will work. It's always worked.
We're all CPR trade. We don't how to do this,

(00:59):
And when I read about it, I didn't realize that
CPR as we currently do it, as you learn on
a first aid course, is very gravity dependent and space
no gravity. And I was like, oh, this is really interesting.
Well why does it matter. It matters because space tourism
is becoming a thing people with more money are able
to pay right now to go to space. But that's
going to become cheaper and more accessible for more of

(01:21):
the population. But right now it's very expensive to go
to space. You'll probably go in a space program. And
if you've ever looked at what it takes to be
an astronaut, there is no chance that you have any
heart issues at the beginning of you becoming an astronaut.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
You need to be doing it perfect human specimenly.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Everything has been checked and so you are almost I'm
not going to say zero because I'm a scientist, but
a very low risk of having a heart attack or
any heart problems while you're in space. So CPR hasn't
really been a thing. But as the rest of us
Willy nillies who have a bit of cash want to
go to space, it is probably more likely to be
a thing. So this study basically says CPR relies on

(01:59):
gravity and body petsitioning. Here on Earth, we need you
to lie down, for example, we need your head to
be below your herder at least the same level. However,
in space, astronauts float, and so we can't really control
where your head, or your feet or the rest of
you are, nor can we push it down on you
because we're also floating too. And I was like, that's
really interesting. So what their study found is that traditional

(02:22):
CPR techniques do not work as effectively in reduce gravity environments.
And so they have gone, well, how do we measure
what actually works? So they've developed this cool little mannequin.
And this mannequin looks like a standard CPR mannequin, but
inside it it's got a whole bunch of sensors and
everything else that can measure things like pressure, blood flow direction,

(02:45):
all the measurements you actually want to calculate when you
are doing CPR, because we actually haven't done these measurements before.
And so they did this study, and then what they
did is they took the researchers to hypergravity, and so
to do that, they had to get onto a very
special aeroplane that actually can I would have loved.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
With saying this project unfold. It would have been great watch.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
That can actually create a microgravity environment for a very
short period of time at which the sitist all had
to run to the middle and do CPR on this mannequin.
I suppose the question is would have defibrillator work I
haven't even got to that point, okay, because what they
found is that they don't even know if the CPR works.
What they were able to measure is, yes, there are
measurable differences in blood pressure compared to Earth based CPR,

(03:30):
systolic diastolic pulse pressure, and all of those, including mean
arterial pressure, were all higher in reduced gravity conditions. So
they know that our body will respond to CPR differently
in low gravity. But they have not found the right
way because there wasn't enough time on this little plane
when you've got two minutes basically microgravity to figure out
the right way. So they have even got to defibrillators

(03:52):
because they haven't worked out CPR yet. What they have
found is, yes, traditional CPR is not going to probably
say you if you're in space. More research needs to
be done, but now they have a magnequin and a
very expensive aeroplane to be able to do tiny tests.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
Can you imagine the terms and conditions list if you
were going to be a space tourist, it must just
be do you know I don't probably read that.

Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah, I don't think it. It's sort of like if
you saw because I read the one for the Titan,
the Summer, the Little basically a very short list. It
basically says, if anything happens, we are not dealing with it.
Like basically, you are saying your life away.

Speaker 4 (04:28):
Anything could happen totally and it's not our responsibility. Rather
than welcome a board, exactly, it's a short list, not
a longlist. So anyway, so if your if your ticker
is a little bit dodgy and you're offered a space trip,
just go. It might be a one way trip because
CPR is probably not going to save you right now,
but the researchers are working on it. There's optimism in

(04:49):
this story. That's a sales put. Doctor Chatterkinson, thank you
so much for talk next week coming up next to
Mike vender Elson, here's a Mother's Day treat for you.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
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