本文發表于2011年2月9日

按照慣例，我們不會在順泰自己的官方博客上做過多的的自我宣傳。但上個月是標志著順泰醫療血壓技術第一次進入太空的第二十四周年紀念日，我們想讓我們的讀者知道在我們的歷史這一重要和有趣的章節。

在1986年1月12日的黎明，肯尼迪航天中心，39A發射臺，哥倫比亞號航天飛機發射升空，它攜帶了一個特殊版本的順泰醫療 accutracker II動態血壓監測裝置。當哥倫比亞號在太空經歷了98圈軌道飛行后成功降落在愛德華茲空軍基地，它可能標志著使命STS-61C結束，但這只是順泰醫療進軍太空研究的開始。

在1986年1月，1999年7月，順泰醫療Accutracker II動態血壓監測裝置伴隨68號航天飛機執行了飛行任務；在1995年的115天的時間里，在對俄羅斯和平號空間站作為聯合和平號航天飛機科學計劃的一部分，該設備提供了超過12個不同的生物醫學實驗的血壓讀數，提供給NASA研究人員進行研究，然后用于在醫學界發表了無數的研究報告。雖然我們沒有能夠詳細統計出Aaccutracker II ABPM設備伴隨NASA的太空飛船飛行了多少的距離，但人們普遍認為STS-61C飛船覆蓋超過250萬英里。我們想說，順泰醫療的動態血壓監測技術是目前世界上最成熟的和安全的。

1999年7月STS-93號飛船是Accutracker II 動態血壓設備的最后飛行，但這并不標志著順泰血壓技術太空測試的結束。歐洲航天局的載人航天研究中心和丹麥醫學中心合作（damec）開發的一種便攜式肺功能系統裝置（PPFS）。PPFS是專為國際空間站上的生物醫學研究中的應用，并采用了順泰醫療最新的無創血壓技術。2009年10月起PPFS已投入國際空間站太空生物醫學研究使用。

所以順泰在太空的未來是光明，這讓全體順泰人及我們的合作伙伴覺得自豪，順泰的血壓技術通過了美國宇航局和歐洲航天局的嚴峻考驗，是值得信賴的。

我們期待著我們的未來。讓我們展望一下，或許伴隨著人類航空事業的發展，順泰NIBP技術最終到達月球或火星。國際空間站目前計劃繼續運作，直到2020，誰知道順泰NIBP技術又會飛過太空中多少的里程？

Traditionally, we try not to engage in excessive self-promotion on the SunTech Blog. But last month marked the 24th anniversary of SunTech’s first journey into space, and we’d like to let our readers know about this important and interesting chapter in our history. In the pre-dawn darkness of January 12, 1986, the space shuttle Columbia blasted off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, carrying with it a special version of the SunTech Accutracker II ABPM device. When Columbia landed successfully at Edwards Air Force base after 98 orbits, it may have marked the end of mission STS-61C, but it was just the beginning of SunTech’s foray into space-based research.

Between January, 1986 and July, 1999, the Accutracker II flew on 68 shuttle missions and even did a 115-day stint on Russia’s Mir space station as part of the joint Shuttle-Mir science program in 1995. The devices provided blood pressure readings for over a dozen different biomedical experiments, which ground-based researchers then used to publish a myriad of studies within the medical community. While I haven’t done the math on how many miles NASA’s fleet of Accutracker II ABPM devices racked up during that time, consider that STS-61C alone covered over 2.5 million miles. I think it’s safe to say that SunTech’s ABPM technology is by far the most well-traveled and well-proven of any in the world.

But the final flight of the Accutracker II on STS-93 in July, 1999 didn’t mark the end of SunTech’s experience in space. The European Space Agency’s Human Spaceflight Research Centre developed a device called the Portable Pulmonary Function System (PPFS) in cooperation with the Danish Medical Centre of Research (DAMEC). The PPFS is designed for biomedical research applications on the International Space Station, and uses SunTech’s latest non-invasive blood pressure technology. The PPFS was launched to the ISS in October of 2009 and has been used for space-based biomedical research ever since.

So the future of SunTech in space looks bright. We’re obviously proud that SunTech’s blood pressure technology is trusted by NASA and ESA for the rigors of spaceflight, and we look forward to what the future holds for us. Might SunTech NIBP technology eventually reach the Moon or Mars? In the meantime, even though the final space shuttle flight will occur this year, the ISS is currently planned to remain in operation until 2020. Who knows how many miles SunTech’s NIBP technology will rack up by then?

Photo Credit: Copyright 1991:NASA Johnson Space Center (NASA-JSC);  Title: STS-43 crewmembers conduct DSO 478 using LBNP device on OV-104's middeck