Karnataka hospital uses drone to deliver samples for urgent test, cuts one-hour transit time to 15 mins

New Delhi: A Karnataka hospital under the supervision of the Indian Council of Medical Research on Wednesday successfully demonstrated ferrying soft tissues in a drone to a top-end medical college for laboratory tests to check the presence of cancerous cells before proceeding with the surgery, saving crucial time for doctors, the ICMR said here.

An unmanned aerial vehicle took off from Dr TMA PAI Rotary Hospital, Karkala with the sample for Kasturba Medical College, Manipal and reached there in 15 minutes - a distance of 37 km that would take about an hour by road.

At KMC, the samples were tested and results were quickly conveyed to the surgeon, who completed the procedure on the basis of the test results.

The successful first flight opens up a new door to use drones for yet another healthcare application besides carrying medicines and vaccines to remote areas.

“The tissue samples were sent for the frozen section and histopathology tests while the patient – a young male – was in the operation theatre. The surgery was concluded on receiving information that the tissue was non-malignant,” Sumit Agarwal, a senior ICMR scientist at ICMR coordinating the programme told DH.

In normal circumstances, such routine tests are carried out in the same hospital where the surgery was being conducted. But the Karkala hospital being a rural one, did not have the necessary laboratory facilities.

The doctors took out the soft tissues from the hip area and used the drone to transport it efficiently to the tertiary care hospital, covering a distance of 37 km in 15-20 minutes, which would have taken around 50-60 minutes by road.

“We want to carry out a few more such cases to establish an SOP,” Agarwal said.

Way back in 2021, the ICMR for the first time deployed drones to deliver Covid-19 vaccines in remote terrain in Manipur, Nagaland and the Andaman and Nicobar islands. It had also used drones to carry medicines and blood samples in Ladakh.

Multiple state governments too used UAVs to ferry vaccines and medicines to remote locations.

Last year drones carrying emergency medicines were deployed in the Char Dham annual pilgrimage in which lakhs or people come to Uttarakhand to visit four shrines – Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri – each located at an altitude of over 10,000 ft.

"The new study holds significant relevance in the Indian context. The utilisation of drones for delivering healthcare essentials during emergencies has the potential to save numerous lives," said Atul Goel, Director General of Health Services in the Union Health Ministry.

The Union Civil Aviation Ministry in August 2021 had notified “liberalised drone rules” to facilitate drone applications in areas ranging from agriculture and surveillance to emergency response, healthcare and law-enforcement activities.