Does an astronaut's heart beat differently in space? A collaboration between artificial intelligence (AI) software developer Ultrasight and GE Healthcare will help answer the question in a study during an upcoming mission to the International Space Station.
Ultrasight's AI cardiac imaging software has been installed on GE's handheld GE Vscan Air scanner, a wireless pocket-sized color ultrasound device. The system will blast off to the International Space Station in January 2022 as part of Axiom Space's first manned private low-earth-atmosphere mission.
The goal of the study is to demonstrate how accurate cardiac ultrasound images can be acquired anywhere -- even in space -- and how AI guidance has the potential to enable successful scanning with limited training, Ultrasight said. During the mission, Lt. Col. Eytan Stibbe, the first Israeli flying to the International Space Station, will use Vscan Air to acquire his own cardiac images, independent of trained medical professionals or ground mission control.
"Space agencies are looking for an ultrasound solution with the features provided by GE Healthcare and UltraSight not only for the international space station, but to also assist with upcoming missions including Artemis to the moon, and soon after to Mars," said Dr. Eran Schenker, chief innovation medical officer of the Israeli Aerospace Medicine Institute, in a news release.
The outcomes of the cardiac study could potentially benefit millions of cardiology patients worldwide, particularly in underserved communities where access to echocardiography labs and large medical systems is limited, Ultrasight said.
The Israeli side of the mission is dubbed "Rakia," Hebrew for sky, after the diary of fallen astronaut Ilan Ramon, who wrote it aboard the Columbia shuttle before it disintegrated on reentry into the atmosphere in 2003.
The UltraSight AI guidance software is currently pending approval for medical use in the U.S. and European markets, the company said.
This will not be the first time a GE Healthcare ultrasound device has been used in space, officials added. In July 2011, GE Healthcare's Vivid q cardiovascular ultrasound system was delivered to the International Space Station aboard the final flight of the space shuttle Atlantis and was used for onboard research.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)