Jan 30th 2008
Star City, Russia
GMK tests ROUND 1. So first up, I was strapped to a Holter monitor (also called an ambulatory electrocardiography device).It is a portable device for continuously monitoring the electrical activity of the heart for 24 hours or more. Its extended recording period is sometime useful for observing occasional cardiac arrhythmias that would be difficult to identify in a shorter period of time. Much like standard electrocardiography (ECG), the Holter monitor records electrical signals from the heart via a series of electrodes attached to the chest.
In addition to wearing the device, I was asked to keep a diary of activities such as running, reading, sleeping, and even drinking and socialising. This information is used by doctors and technicians to rapidly pinpoint problem areas in the vast amount of data recorded during the monitoring period.
The next day I endured my second round of Vestibular testing. The purpose of rotational testing is to determine whether or not dizziness may be due to a disorder of inner ear or brain. There are three parts to the test. The chair test measures dizziness (well jumping of the eyes really -- called nystagmus) while being turned slowly in a motorized chair. Persons with inner ear disease become less dizzy than do normal persons.
The optokinetic test measures dizziness caused by viewing of moving stripes. The chair is revered here as the Russians love to punish you on there. Whilst being spun around continuously at high speeds, you are being forced to endure up to 10 mins per session with no respite. Notice haw fast I was being spun around...This was absolute torture. With the lead up to the orbital flight we will endure up to 3 rounds of the chair as to minimise the effects of motion sickness in space.
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