A piece of astronaut apparatus is being tested as a means of providing in-home therapy and relief for patients suffering from peripheral artery disease (PAD). Water-circulating trousers fitted with water tubes help to regulate body temperature during space missions. The same system can deliver non-invasive therapy to PAD A patient displays his “space pants,” which he wears daily as part of a clinical trial researching heat therapy as a treatment option for peripheral artery disease. Source: Mark Simons/Purdue Universitypatients by increasing lower limb blood flow, which in turn reduces pain and gets users up and moving again.

Together with a portable water pump, the space pants provide heat therapy to the narrowed peripheral leg arteries that are symptomatic of the disease. Such treatment is being increasingly used for rehabilitation to improve blood vessel health and to facilitate skeletal muscle recovery following injury.

The system pioneered at Purdue University does not impede the user’s mobility, and preliminary trials show that PAD subjects can stand and walk for longer durations after receiving the heat treatment. After donning the space pants, the subject is advised to wait 30 minutes for the water to warm up to the proper temperature and then remain hooked up to the pump for 90 minutes every day for eight weeks.

Since leg heat therapy has been shown to benefit young athletes who have sustained injuries, the researchers are focusing on realizing similar health benefits in older adult populations.