NASA and the United Network for Organ Sharing are testing the use of drones in organ transport, according to an April 21 news release.
The joint effort will analyze how drones can “make organ transport safer, faster and more efficient,” the release said.
The collaboration comes amid heightened scrutiny of the U.S. organ donation and transplant network, particularly related to more patients being skipped on transplant waitlists and allegations of unsafe practices conducted by individual organ procurement organizations. HHS has recently cracked down on organ procurement organizations through stricter oversight.
UNOS is a federally contracted, national nonprofit organization that manages a majority of the U.S. organ donation and transplant system. Its partnership with NASA will initially focus on developing and testing drone technology “to measure how environmental factors such as temperature, vibration and altitude affect organs during UAV [unpressurized aerial vehicle] flights carrying research or animal organs,” the release said.
The two organizations will also study potential flight routes and time savings, as well as “scalability, longer-range flight testing and regulatory considerations” for these drones.
Other healthcare companies have been exploring the use of, or are already using, drones for transporting prescriptions, lab samples and medical supplies. Those organizations include Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health, Chicago-based Northwestern and Durham, N.C.-based Duke Health.
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