RITM OKB ZAO Space Program
The leaders of the Soviet Union space program took an interest in RITM OKB ZAO in 1984. When the Soviet Union decided to send its cosmonauts to the Earth’s orbit for longer periods, it became clear that it is necessary to equip them with some sort of a universal aid that can help against any diseases that might occur. The government started to search for an enterprise that is able to develop a complex for testing, evaluating, training, and psychological relief for the cosmonauts. The officials highly appreciated the qualification of our engineers and their new developments in the sphere of medical technology, so the choice was made in favour of “RITM” Special Design Office.
In this letter, the Cosmonaut Training Center (CTC) asks to develop devices that can stimulate the acupuncture points in order to use them to provide medical and biological support of the cosmonaut training process. The letter was sent to the Taganrog Institute of Radiotechnology (TRTI) and then forwarded to OKB, as the actual contractor. That letter shows the interest of CTC in RITM OKB ZAO developments.
The implementation of this project involved serious scientific potential, taking into account the previous studies carried out in the University of Tartu (Estonia) and the Research Institute of Neurocybernetics (Rostov-on-Don) and with the participation of the specialists from Kyiv and Kharkiv. The engineers of RITM OKB implemented the system with biofeedback. (Photo 2)
During the development of the project RITM OKB ZAO was visited by the high-ranked specialists and engineers, including cosmonauts, for whom the room project was created. The photo shows RITM OKB ZAO director Vladislav (on the left), the rector of Taganrog Institute of Radiotechnology Nikolai Malyshev, the Chief Engineer of RITM OKB ZAO Rudolf Kruykov (in the background), and the Soviet cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union and Companion of the Order of Lenin Yury Malyshev (in the center).
This project proved the high level of professionalism of RITM OKB ZAO’s staff and the ability of RITM to solve complex modern problems. That allowed the company to implement such modern developments as INTENS, Stabilan, Myokom, and, of course, SCENAR.
However, it happened so that SCENAR was not used in the space back then. It was necessary to work out a few additional requirements, including installing the protection against water. But the financing was stopped because of the Perestroika. The space race was over and the group of engineers had to finish their developments for the space industry.
Later on, the result of this development was introduced to the Russian medical device market. In 1995-1996 first SCENAR therapists started to treat their patients using the new technology.
