Scalea Joseph R, Restaino Stephen, Scassero Matthew, Blankenship Gil, Bartlett Stephen T, Wereley Norman
University of Maryland BaltimoreBaltimoreMD21201USA.
Maryland Development CorporationBaltimoreMD21202USA.
IEEE J Transl Eng Health Med. 2018 Nov 6;6:4000107. doi: 10.1109/JTEHM.2018.2875704. eCollection 2018.
Organ transportation has yet to be substantially innovated. If organs could be moved by drone, instead of ill-timed commercial aircraft or expensive charter flights, lifesaving organs could be transplanted more quickly. A modified, six-rotor UAS was used to model situations relevant to organ transportation. To monitor the organ, we developed novel technologies that provided the real-time organ status using a wireless biosensor combined with an organ global positioning system. Fourteen drone organ missions were performed. Temperatures remained stable and low (2.5 °C). Pressure changes (0.37-0.86 kPa) correlated with increased altitude. Drone travel was associated with less vibration (<0.5 G) than was observed with fixed-wing flight (>2.0 G). Peak velocity was 67.6 km/h (42 m/h). Biopsies of the kidney taken prior to and after organ shipment revealed no damage resulting from drone travel. The longest flight was 3.0 miles, modeling an organ flight between two inner city hospitals. Organ transportation may be an ideal use-case for drones. 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.
器官运输尚未得到实质性的创新。如果器官能够通过无人机运输，而不是乘坐时间不合适的商业航班或昂贵的包机，那么救命的器官就能更快地进行移植。一架经过改装的六旋翼无人机系统被用于模拟与器官运输相关的情况。为了监测器官，我们开发了新技术，通过结合器官全球定位系统的无线生物传感器提供器官的实时状态。进行了14次无人机器官运输任务。温度保持稳定且较低（2.5摄氏度）。压力变化（0.37 - 0.86千帕）与海拔升高相关。与固定翼飞行（>2.0G）相比，无人机飞行产生的振动较小（<0.5G）。最高速度为67.6公里/小时（42英里/小时）。在器官运输前后对肾脏进行活检，结果显示无人机运输未造成损伤。最长飞行距离为3.0英里，模拟了两个市中心医院之间的器官运输。器官运输可能是无人机的一个理想应用场景。随着更快、更大的无人机的发展，长距离无人机器官运输可能会大幅缩短冷缺血时间，进而提高器官质量，并挽救数以千计的生命。
