The UK has made a major step towards the delivery of blood and platelet packs by drone, it has been announced.
The National Health Service reported a successful trial of the technology, transporting packs of blood 42 miles by air-born drones.
The significance of this trial is that the distance meant drones were travelling out of the line of sight of any operators.
In the trial, drone transportation was compared with road transport. Ten packs travelled by air and ten identical packs by road between two NHS sites in Northumberland.
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) scientists then analysed the blood to check for any impact on quality and longevity, testing factors such as potassium concentration and haemolysis percentage. They reported that drone transport did not affect the quality of the blood and was a safe mode of transport.
Drone journeys took 61 minutes while road transport took 68 minutes – even though the drone route was not the shortest possible.
The agency says it now plans more trials of the technology, which proved fractionally faster than road transport. It also plans trials of platelet transport.
NHSBT chief medical officer Dr Gail Miflin said: “The results of this first trial are very promising, showing no compromise to the safety of the blood. We look forward to seeing the outcomes from the next round of the study.
“Technology is advancing rapidly and we are keen to examine how innovative technology may be able to support and further decarbonise our extensive logistics operations in the future.”
Source: NHS Blood and Transplant
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