A pair of human lungs needed for a transplant procedure have been transported between hospitals by drone for the first time.
The drone took six minutes to transport the lungs the 1.5km journey between Toronto Western Hospital and Toronto General Hospital in Toronto, Canada, at the end of last year for a 63-year-old engineer suffering from pulmonary fibrosis.
The flight was coordinated by the University Health Network hospitals and Unither Bioelectronics which specialises in manufacturing organs suitable for human transplant and quick and efficient delivery methods such as drones.
Talking about the flight on Unither Bioelectronics website, a company spokesman said: “The flight demonstrated that a life-saving organ can be safely and quickly flown via drone over a high-density urban setting and highly congested traffic area, maintaining the right conditions for the organ, while successfully interfacing and coordinating with a medical transplant team, in this case, Toronto General Hospital's world-renowned lung transplant team led by Dr.Shaf Keshavjee.”
The company says the work it has been doing has established an important stepping stone for future organ delivery that ultimately will open the door for large-scale adoption of larger fully autonomous, electrically-powered, environmentally-friendly drones that have the ability to efficiently and cleanly deliver organs for transplant across trans-continental distances.
Their spokesman added: “At the health system level, the use of drones for organ transportation will ultimately bring important advantages to improve the availability and effective distribution of scarce life-saving organs for transplantation.
“With this unique technology we may one day be able to transport organs with fewer logistical barriers and eliminate the need to transport whole surgical teams in larger aircrafts. Simply put, drones may help organs for transplants get to the people who need them, quicker and in a more cost-effective way.”
To watch a video of the historic flight, visit https://www.unither.aero/en/a-breath-in-the-sky
