Long-term Spaceflight (Sprut-2) Study of Changes in Body Composition and Distribution of Fluids Within the Human Body During
THE HUMAN BODY DURING LONG-TERM SPACEFLIGHT (SPRUT-2)
Research Area: Integrated Physiology and Nutrition
Expedition(s): 25- 34
Principal Investigator(s): ● Viktor B. Noskov, PhD, Institute of Medical and
Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, Moscow, Russia
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The Study of Changes in Body Composition and Distribution of Fluids Within the Human Body
During Long-term Spaceflight (Sprut-2) studies the change in body composition and fluid
distribution in the human body during long-term spaceflight in order to evaluate adaptation
mechanisms and improve countermeasures. Gravity plays the most important role in the
restructuring of many metabolic parameters, including the hydration status of the body.
EARTH BENEFITS
The use of the polysegmental impedancemetry, apart
from the evaluation of gravitational displacement of
bodily fluids, allows one to significantly reduce the
margins of error in evaluating body composition
caused by a different electrical properties of various
regions of the body, and a new diagram for placing
the electrodes increases the precision of the analysis
through consideration of the individual parts of the
subject's body.SPACE BENEFITS
A study of the fluid spaces of the body is not only of
great scientific interest but has practical applicability
in correcting the hydration status of crew members in
order to increase their postflight orthostatic stability.
Performing Sprut-2 facilitates direct, real-time
medical monitoring of the state of the crew’s
metabolism and their hydration status during long-
term spaceflights. The results of the experiment make
it possible to predict and substantiate targeted
corrections to the hydration level at various stages of
flight in order to improve crew members’ performance. This study shows it is possible to
perform autonomous medical monitoring during long-term expeditions, including
interplanetary ones, and to perform targeted correction of water-salt exchange and the training
regimen at various stages of flight, in order to improve crew performance.
Russian cosmonaut A.N. Shkaplerov during
a session of the Sprut-2 investigation aboard
the International Space Station. Roscosmos
image.