Delivering blood samples via drones is possible, study finds

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have demonstrated in a new proof-of-concept study that the results of routine blood tests are not affected when the samples being analyzed were transported by drones for periods of up to 40 minutes.

The results of the study, which have been published in the journal PLOS One, are being called promising news for the millions living in communities that are economically struggling, who do not have easy access to medical facilities, or who live in areas without quality roads.

“Poor access to health care results in more morbidity (pain and suffering), mortality, and cost,” lead author Dr. Timothy Amukele, a pathologist at the university and the director of a laboratory partnership between Johns Hopkins and Uganda’s Makerere University, told redOrbit via email. “Small civilian drones are an affordable way to increase access.”

“The risk of using drones to transport biological samples is the same as using a car to transport biological samples. Essentially there is a theoretical risk of infection in the case of exposure or a crash. he added. “However… the potential benefits of using drones are huge. Small civilian drones are an affordable way to increase access. They are cheaper than a motorcycle and faster in many settings because they don’t have the problems of traffic or the need for a drivable road.”

Drones, he and his colleagues report, could give health care professionals quicker access to the lab tests required for diagnosis and treatment. The majority of tests on blood samples, they said, are performed by dedicated lab facilities that can be located miles away from medical clinics.

Little to no differences found between flown and driven samples

As Dr. Amukele pointed out in a statement, blood samples and similar biological materials can be extremely fragile, and due to their sensitive nature, even the pneumatic tube systems used by many hospitals, are not suitable for transporting blood for some purposes.

To see if drones could provide an effective alternative to other blood sample transport methods, he and his colleagues collected six blood samples from each of 56 health adult volunteers, then drove them to a flight site one-hour away on days when the temperatures were in the 70s. Those samples were then packaged for flight in such a way to protect them and prevent leaks.

The samples were loaded into a hand-launched fixed-wing drone and flown for periods of six to 38 minutes, with flights taking place in unpopulated areas and remaining below 100 meters (328 feet) at all times. The samples underwent 33 common lab tests, and the results found that little to no difference in the results when compared to samples that were driven to the laboratory.

However, results did differ between flown and driven samples in one test – the bicarbonate test (a test of total carbon dioxide). Dr. Amukele said that his team is not certain why this is the case, but noted that it may be because the blood was sitting around for up to eight hours before being tested. The next step, he said, will be to conduct a pilot study in a remote part of Africa, where health care clinics can be more than 60 miles away from laboratory facilities.

“Our experiment answered the ‘can it work’ question not the ‘will it work’ question. The ‘will it work’ piece requires technological and likely regulatory intervention. On the technical side, we need drones to be able to sense and avoid each other in flight. On the regulatory side, we need clear guidelines for commercial drone ownership and use,” Dr. Amukele told redOrbit.

“Wish us luck in the ‘will it work’ pilot in Africa,” he added.

—–

Feature Image: Pathologist Timothy Amukele, left, teamed with Robert Chalmers and other engineers to create a drone courier system that transports blood to diagnostic laboratories. (Credit: Johns Hopkins Medicine)