In a remote village in Kenya, a member of a UAB field team that is working to wipe out malaria puts on a red cap and punches coordinates into a small GPS unit. There, on the screen, he looks through the electronic eyes of a satellite orbiting high above the earth to see his own red hat in the high-resolution image.
He also sees infrared images of warm standing water and identifies the topography of likely mosquito breeding grounds. Instead of spending days looking for malaria vectors, he can go straight to mosquito hatching sites and call in a surgically precise strike to eliminate the mosquitoes before they become airborne.
Half a world away, UAB researchers in the first North American satellite remote sensing lab focused primarily on healthcare are using the technology for everything from checking the influences of today’s pollution level on pulmonary patients to sifting through environmental factors that could be related to why there are more strokes here than elsewhere.
This futuristic lab started with a UAB anthropologist’s interest in everyday life in ancient Egypt.
“When I started working with satellite images and finding hundreds of previously unknown archeological sites in Egypt, I talked with UAB administrators about setting up a small lab,” said Sarah Parck, PhD. “They immediately recognized the broader implications for using the technology in health. As we discussed it with the deans of medicine, public health, dentistry and several of the other schools, they were also excited about the potential and how the technology could work in their research.”
Although satellite remote sensing has been used in other areas of science and engineering, until now, there have been only limited applications in health, such as the use of satellite images by researchers at Johns Hopkins University to identify rodent habitats during an outbreak of hantavirus.
Biostatistics expert Dr. Leslie McClure is using the technology to track environmental influences on childhood asthma.
“We’re doing a study to see if we can reduce attacks in children through school-supervised asthma therapy to make sure they receive their medications correctly,” said McClure. “With the satellite images, I can check current pollution levels and other environmental factors near the child’s home that might influence results.”
She added, “I’ll also be working on a stroke study to see if we can identify environmental factors that might explain why rates in some areas are so much higher.”
Several other studies are planned or already in progress, including the effects of water on dental health, and the relationship of possible mercury, lead and pesticide exposure to recent outbreaks of health problems in mothers and infants abroad.
Medical entomologist Robert Novak, PhD, a leading expert in insect disease vectors, is using satellite remote sensing to fight malaria in East Africa.
“It once took us months surveying door to door to map mosquito habitats,” said Novak. “Now, we can enter our coordinates and see standing water, plants and topography to help us find mosquitoes in their aquatic state, before they become flying missiles. We can treat the areas exactly where the mosquitoes are, saving money and keeping extra pesticides out of the environment.”
He added, “Here in the U.S., we can track deer that are likely to be carrying the ticks that spread Lyme disease. Mosquitoes carry West Nile virus, encephalitis and everything from yellow fever to dengue fever and Rift Valley fever. It wasn’t that many generations ago that Alabama was a hot spot for malaria. That’s one of the reasons TVA was created to control flooding.”
Parck also sees the possibility of using satellite images to help disaster response teams and the public prepare for and respond to weather emergencies.
“We hope to set up our system so people will be able to go directly online to see approaching storms so they will be able to see when they need to evacuate, and so medical teams will be able to better prepare for casualties,” said Parck. “Dr. Akhlahque Haque from the UAB Department of Government is in Bangladesh now using satellite images to map flood-prone areas to help researchers and aid workers get where they are needed.
Here in Birmingham, UAB will be offering classes so medical personnel and students in health related studies can learn to use the technology. Eventually, physicians will be able to check satellite images when a pulmonary patient isn’t getting better or look at areas where patients traveled to get clues in making their diagnosis.
“Today, we are on the frontier in using satellites in medicine,” said Novak. “We’re the Daniel Boones, and there is so much out there ahead of us.”
October 2007
