A 5-day Dry Immersion Study on 20 Healthy Male Volunteers

Dry immersion (DI) is a ground-based model of prolonged conditions of simulated microgravity. Dry immersion involves immersing the subject in water covered with an elastic waterproof fabric. As a result, the immersed subject, who is freely suspended in the water mass, remains dry. Within a relatively short duration, the model can faithfully reproduce most physiological effects of actual microgravity, including centralization of body fluids, support unloading, and hypokinesia. The main objective of the present study is to investigate the physiological effects of 5 days of dry immersion in 20 healthy male subjects, and to obtain DI-in-Men Reference Dataset. A set of measurements will assess the changes in the cardiovascular, neuro-ophthalmological, hematological, metabolic, sensorimotor, immune, muscle and bone systems.