As organ transplant science advances, the biggest hurdle to organ transplantation becomes increasingly logistical. For example, securing a plane or navigating traffic fast enough to transplant an organ before it degrades.
Enter the drone, which researchers recently documented a milestone test. science roboticsAfter hundreds of practice flights, their drone carried a human donor lung in a five-minute journey from the roof of Toronto Western Hospital to Toronto General Hospital for a successful transplant. Travel time is 25 minutes by car.
The study suggests that drone delivery “may have unique potential for organs such as the heart and lungs that can tolerate less time on ice.” In 2019, his team at the University of Maryland performed a groundbreaking drone delivery of a kidney, an organ that could keep him alive for 24 hours when packed in ice. Lungs and hearts have less than half that lifespan.
In new research, Toronto General (who performed the first successful lung transplant in 1983) and Unither Bioelectronics have replaced commercial drone landing gear with lightweight carbon fiber containers for large, fragile organs. The team hardened the drone’s connection to keep radio frequencies from interfering with GPS, and fitted it with a parachute set to automatically open in the event of an airborne malfunction.
Since successful test flights, researchers have been working with aviation authorities to create drone corridors through commercial airspace, but there are regulatory hurdles. For example, in populated areas, civilians are typically not allowed to fly drones beyond their line of sight.
Shaf Keshavjee, head of Toronto General’s lung transplant program, envisions drones one day carrying lungs long distances for specialized repairs to make them ready for transplantation. But for now, he’s focused on getting from the airport to the hospital, which takes 40 minutes and just 8 minutes by drone.
“When the Wright Brothers left the Kitty Hawk, they were only flying 120 feet the first time,” says Keshavjee. “But now look where air travel is.”
