A new artificial intelligence-powered clinical decision support system developed by Google and NASA aims to help astronauts diagnose and treat medical issues during space missions – even when real-time communication with Earth is unavailable, said Chris Hein, field CTO of Google Public Sector.
The Crew Medical Officer Digital Assistant, or CMO-DA, that’s being piloted by NASA, uses a tuned large language model trained on more than 150 data sources and about 250 common spaceflight-related medical conditions encountered in low or zero gravity, he said.
CMO-DA can work in disconnected environments and handle both text and voice queries, Hein said in an interview with Information Security Media Group.
“There are going to be a lot of times where astronauts are going to be disconnected or far away from the ability to do live sessions or diagnostic sessions with doctors here on Earth,” he said.
“So, what if we can take some of the intelligence and the know-how that you get from a doctor, embed that into the models and then make that so they can live in that kind of disconnected environment on a spaceship,” he said. “Almost like a doctor in a box that can come with them where they happen to go, and bring that level of expertise.”
In this audio interview with Information Security Media Group (see audio link below photo), Hein also discussed:
- How CMO-DA is addressing potential data privacy and security issues;
- Next steps for CMO-DA deployment by NASA;
- Potential applications of the CMO-DA concept in other settings, such as for military and remote healthcare uses.
Hein, a tenured Google employee of over 10 years, is the field chief technology officer at Google Public Sector. He brings a blend of technical expertise – honed as a former vice president of technology in the private sector – and a deep understanding of the critical missions of government and educational institutions. In his role at Google, Hein assists IT leaders in navigating the transformative shift to an AI-driven world.