A Fearless Flight

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On November 6, 2018, the report, “An Initial Investigation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Real-Time Organ Status Measurement for Transporting Human Organs,” was published in the IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine.

The authors— Stephen T. Bartlett (UMD Medical System, Baltimore); Gil Blankenship (Maryland Development Corporation, Baltimore); Joseph R. Scalea (Assistant Professor, UMD School of Medicine); Matthew Scassero (Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site Director, UMD); and Norman Wereley (Minta Martin Professor and Chair of Aerospace Engineering, UMD)—recognize that “if organs could be moved by drone, instead of ill-timed commercial aircraft or expensive charter flights, lifesaving organs could be transplanted more quickly.”

The report goes on to describe how a modified, six-rotor unmanned aircraft system was used to model situations relevant to organ transportation. The tests, which included 14 drone missions and a flight that covered 3 miles, revealed that a kidney could travel safely without damage on a drone. “Organ transportation may be an ideal use-case for drones,” the authors point out. “With the development of faster, larger drones, long-distance drone organ shipment may result in substantially reduced cold ischemia times, subsequently improved organ quality, and thousands of lives saved.”

Recent media coverage of the UAS organ transportation investigation is included below:

Associated Press video interview: Are drones the next big thing in organ donation?

IEEE Spectrum: Maryland Test Confirms Drones Can Safely Deliver Human Organs

Digital Trends: Drones can safely fly a human kidney without damaging it, study shows

We Talk UAV: Need a new organ? Perhaps a drone will deliver one for you…

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association: A Precious Payload

Teslarati: Drone successfully flies human organ transplant between hospitals

Techcrunch.com: First ever drone-delivered kidney is no worse for wear

Tech50plus.com: Transplant Organ Delivery By Drone

Dronebelow.com: Kidney Flown Thousands of Meters by Drone Successfully

Commercial Drone Professional: Drone flies for over an hour to complete first unmanned kidney delivery

ITV News: Human kidney successfully transported by drone in US

Dronelife.Com: Drones Can Do Liver: Maryland Tests Show Potential of Unmanned Organ Transport

Nextbigfuture.com: Drones Deliver Transplant Organs Between Hospitals

Drone DJ: DJI Matrice 600 Pro, first drone to successfully deliver kidney in Maryland test

CNET: Drones can successfully deliver human organs, study shows

Becker’s Hospital Review: Maryland hospital confirms drones can deliver donated organs

The Times.co.uk: Kidney delivered by drone arrives safely at hospital

Newsweek: Organs By Drone? Unmanned Flying Vehicles Could Soon Carry Body Parts For Human Transplants

The Drive: University of Maryland Researchers Successfully Delivered Kidneys Via Drone Test Flights

WVXU (Cincinnati Public Radio): How Drones Can Help Transport Human Organs

TVNZ.CO.New Zealand: US surgeon hopes delivering donor organs by drone will save precious time

The Australian: Drone Delivers Human Organ to Hospital

Slashdot: Maryland Test Confirms Drones Can Safely Deliver Human Organs

Seeflection.com: Test of Drone Use for Kidney Transplant Delivery Succeeds

Koz Week: U.S. Drone Successfully Delivered a Donated Kidney for Transplant

Aero News Network: University of Maryland Demonstrates Human Organ Transport by Drone

Inside.com: Researchers successfully transported a human kidney by drone

RotorDrone Magazine: Organ Transplant via Drone

SUAS Global: First ever drone-delivered kidney is no worse for wear

Tangible Tech: Flying transplant kidneys by drone

Trendingpod.com: Drone Successfully Delivers Kidney in New Experiment

Allthingssupplychain.com: Maryland drone organ delivery proves successful

Kwonlog: First ever drone-delivered kidney is no worse for wear

Releases Soon.com: First Ever Drone-Delivered Kidney is Not Any Worse for Put On

Inventiva.co.in: First ever drone-delivered kidney is no worse for wear

UAV: Drones Can Do Liver: Maryland Tests Show Potential of Unmanned Vehicles

NEWZ Cliq: First ever drone-delivered kidney is no worse for wear

Cool Cars and Gadgets: The primary kidney delivered by a drone isn’t worse for put on

Nayana Sri Blog: First ever drone-delivered kidney is no worse for wear

Droid Therapy: First ever drone-delivered kidney is no worse for wear

Recreational Flying: A drone flew for more than an hour to deliver a fresh human kidney—and it arrived healthy

Connex Drones: Delivering Human Organs by Drone

Manager Mint Media: First ever drone-delivered kidney is no worse for wear

Covello.co: First ever drone-delivered kidney is no worse for wear

Tecriter: First ever drone-delivered kidney isn’t any worse for put on

EENADU India: Organ transportation through drones—the future!

ACM.org: Maryland Test Confirms Drones Can Safely Deliver Human Organs

Tech4tornado.blogspot.com: First ever drone-delivered kidney is no worse for wear

The Times of India: Are drones the next big thing in organ donation?

The News World Network: First ever drone-delivered kidney is no worse for wear

Published November 30, 2018