Health drones will reach Funen

The expectation is that the drones can ensure safer transport of medical equipment, biological tests and in the long term also health staff than it is possible with current modes of transportation. Because of this, the project is to test drone transportation through so-called “air corridors” between the hospital units of Odense University Hospital in Odense, Svendborg and Aeroe.

It is expected that blood samples and medical equipment can be flown from A to B in less than an hour, whereas the average transportation time is 12 hours for moving tests from a clinical department to the central laboratory for analysis. It is also part of the plan that a special kind of drone is to transport highly specialised doctors in the long term, if the operation rooms at other hospitals have acute challenges.

The project is a collaboration between Odense Universitety Hospital, the Drone Centre at University of Southern Denmark, which also accomodates UAS Denmark drone testing centre, and the companies of Autonomous Mobility A/S, Falck A/S, Unifly og Scandinavian Avionics A/S, who all work in drone and health logistics. In addition to being test-site for the test flights, OUH will be in charge of the assessment of the clinical and financial benefits of the project seen from a hospital’s perspective. The assessment is carried out by OUH’s unit for Health Technology Assessment.

HealthDrone has received financial support from the Danish Innovation Fund (Innovationsfonden) and is the first project with drones within the health services in Denmark – and presumably the entire Nordic region.

For the benefit of the patients

When the drones start to fly in the air space above Funen, it is most definitely an efficiency improvement that benefits the patients of OUH. If the blood samples reach the point of analysis faster, it is also possible to find the correct form of treatment faster. This way it is possible to prevent unnecessary isolation of patient and the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics.

”Health drones are an idea that we have had at OUH for a long time, because we see a large potential, both in acute alert situations, as i.e. the train disaster that happened just a few weeks ago, and in taking health services closer to the citizen, also in situations where the citizen has chronic disorders. Odense University Hospital has a strong background in working with new technology and will ensure that both clinical and work-related benefits, but also financial and safety-related aspects are taken into account. Drones are a unique opportunity for research and innovation with a large business potential, also within other fields,” says medical director at OUH Peder Jest.

Test flights this year

The drone technology is fully developed, and only missing components such as transport boxes suited for airborne transportation of biological tests need to be developed. Because of this, it is expected that the project will be testing drone deliveries within 1-2 years. The total project period is from 2019-2022.

The initial test flights will take place as soon as this year in the airspace above Denmark’s national drone testing centre at HCA Airport just outside of Odense. Afterwards, the drones will be tested in flying outside of visual range (BVLOS) in a corridor between Aeroe, Svendborg and Odense. In this context, the Danish Transport Authority needs to issue permits, and the drones need to be equipped with safety systems that allow them to fly as safely as regular airplanes.