Using Drones to Transport Laboratory Specimens
Laboratory specimens are routinely transported from hospital wards to the clinical laboratory by vacuum tube. Esoteric testing is transported from hospitals to reference laboratories by overnight express. In both situations, reliable test results are obtained if specimens are properly packaged and processed.
This week, researchers from the Department of Pathology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine reported that specimens could also be transported by unmanned aerial systems, which are commonly called drones (PLOS ONE July 29, 2015; DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0134020). Paired blood specimens were collected from 56 volunteers for a chemistry panel, coagulation screen and complete blood count with differential. One set of specimens was transported to the airfield by car while the second set was transported to the airfield by car and then flown up to 40 minutes in an Aero fixed-wing drone (3D Robotics, Berkeley, CA). A total of 33 analytes were measured. Transportation by drone did not adversely affect accuracy of any of these routine tests. Precision was slightly worse in the flown specimens. Hemolysis was not increased by unmanned aerial flight.
These preliminary results are encouraging. If these results are confirmed by additional studies, drones may provide a lower cost means of specimen transportation that will not be impacted by traffic congestion or road conditions.
The original article can be read in the journal PLoS One.
