Battling fire and ice: remote guidance ultrasound to diagnose injury on the International Space Station and the ice rink.

Background: National Aeronautical and Space and Administration (NASA) researchers have optimized training methods that allow minimally trained, non-physician operators to obtain diagnostic ultrasound (US) images for medical diagnosis including musculoskeletal injury. We hypothesize that these techniques could be expanded to non-expert operators including National Hockey League (NHL) and Olympic athletic trainers to diagnose musculoskeletal injuries in athletes.

Methods: NHL and Olympic athletic trainers received a brief course on musculoskeletal US.