[Contractile function of the heart during weightlessness according to the results of 3-dimensional ballistocardiography].

In the joint Soviet-Indian space flight the method of spatial ballistocardiography was used to investigate the cardiac function in flight. The piezoelectric transducer was placed between the scapulae and its orientation was varied relative to the three axes of the body. Measurements were taken twice before, twice during and twice after flight. Ballistocardiograms were analyzed in terms of their amplitude, time and spectral parameters. It was found that in microgravity the energy of cardiac contractions developed spatial redistribution. It was also demonstrated that the cardiovascular function showed individual variability.