NASA and Google create AI medical assistant for Mars missions

 • NASA and Google have developed an AI-powered medical assistant called the Crew Medical Officer Digital Assistant (CMO-DA) to help astronauts diagnose and treat medical conditions during extended Mars missions and other deep space travel where Earth communication can be delayed up to 20 minutes.

• The multimodal AI system runs on Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform and processes speech, text, and images, with NASA owning the source code while Google provides cloud infrastructure under a fixed-price subscription agreement.

• Initial testing by three physicians, including an astronaut, showed promising diagnostic accuracy rates of 88% for ankle injuries, 80% for ear pain, and 74% for flank pain across three medical scenarios.

• The system addresses the critical need for “Earth-independent” medical care as current International Space Station missions rely on real-time communication with Houston and regular cargo deliveries, which won’t be possible for longer Moon and Mars missions.

• Beyond space applications, the AI medical assistant could benefit remote healthcare on Earth, potentially providing specialist-level care in underserved areas where direct access to medical professionals is limited.

Why it matters

This breakthrough could revolutionize both space exploration and Earth-based healthcare by enabling autonomous medical care during critical Mars missions while potentially transforming remote healthcare delivery in underserved communities worldwide.