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Drones
Special Issues
Recent Advances in Healthcare Applications of Drones
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Recent Advances in Healthcare Applications of Drones

A special issue of Drones (ISSN 2504-446X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 24 September 2026 | Viewed by 3386

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Yu-Jun Zheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Information Science and Technology, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Interests: evolutionary algorithms; swarm intelligence; hybridization of human-machine intelligence; neuro-fuzzy systems; UAV search and rescue; intelligent transportation; smart healthcare and public health; artificial intelligence
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mumtaz Karatas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435-0001, USA
Interests: operations research; industrial engineering; decision sciences; optimization; location science; UAV mission planning; healthcare resource management; machine learning; logistics and transportation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Kaizhou Gao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Science, Macau Institute of Systems Engineering, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China
Interests: artificial intelligence; intelligent optimization theory; methods and applications; reinforcement learning; complex systems modeling; optimization and scheduling; intelligent transportation; intelligent manufacturing; smart city
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are revolutionizing healthcare in various ways including emergency medical supply delivery, telemedicine and remote consultation, aerial ambulance services, medical research, vaccine trials, etc., where an aerial advantage shows immense value in improving our healthcare systems, particularly in reducing the response time for diagnosis and treatment and lifesaving. However, compared to their wide use in commercial logistics, ecology, and military, drones’ healthcare-related applications are only recently becoming explored and accepted, bringing many challenges and accompanying opportunities. Emerging technologies such as machine learning, bio-inspired computation, virtual reality, and intelligent agents are expected to provide promising solutions to promote the applications of drones in healthcare.

This Special Issue aims to initiate a dialog on the most recent advances of healthcare applications of drones. Studies on related methodologies, model, algorithms, systems, and experiments are all welcome. Studies bridging the gaps between research and practice are particularly welcomed.

Potential topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Design and development of medical drones;
  • Drone-based first-aid systems;
  • Medical supply chains and transportation systems with drones;
  • Drones for public health monitoring and emergency response;
  • Drones for emergency medical services;
  • Drones for patient monitoring and telemedicine;
  • Drones for pathogenic microorganism detection and tracing;
  • Drones for medical research;
  • Methods for planning and scheduling drones in healthcare applications;
  • Artificial intelligence for promoting healthcare applications of drones.

Prof. Dr. Yu-Jun Zheng
Dr. Mumtaz Karatas
Dr. Kaizhou Gao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Drones is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • drones in healthcare
  • unmanned medical logistics
  • emergency medical services
  • telemedicine

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 3254 KB  
Article
Challenges for the Drone Logistics Sector in Complying with Dangerous Goods Regulations: A Case Study in a UK Healthcare Setting
by Matt Grote, Tom Cherrett, Katherine Theobald, Aliaksei Pilko and Oliver Barber
Drones 2026, 10(2), 113; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones10020113 - 4 Feb 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 950
Abstract
Using Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, for logistics is an area of interest that can involve payloads containing substances classified by the United Nations as dangerous goods (DGs) when transported by air, particularly for medical use cases. Drones are a [...] Read more.
Using Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, for logistics is an area of interest that can involve payloads containing substances classified by the United Nations as dangerous goods (DGs) when transported by air, particularly for medical use cases. Drones are a relatively new logistics mode, and the associated regulatory environment governing their use is also new and evolving. This research investigated the potential for drone payloads to contain DGs and identified the associated challenges, both legislative and practical, facing the drone logistics sector. This was achieved through a review of DG regulations, an assessment of medical payloads to quantify potential to contain DGs, and practical insight gained from developing a novel medical carrier compatible with regulations governing DG transportation by drone. Results suggest that, from an analysis of over 44,000 safety data sheets, ~10% of medicines were classified as DGs and that stipulated procedures to demonstrate compliance with DG regulations are unlikely to be scalable in accordance with the forecast expansion of the sector due to their challenging and resource intensive requirements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Healthcare Applications of Drones)
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21 pages, 2142 KB  
Article
Real-Life ISO 15189 Qualification of Long-Range Drone Transportation of Medical Biological Samples: Results from a Clinical Trial
by Baptiste Demey, Olivier Bury, Morgane Choquet, Julie Fontaine, Myriam Dollerschell, Hugo Thorel, Charlotte Durand-Maugard, Olivier Leroy, Mathieu Pecquet, Annelise Voyer, Gautier Dhaussy and Sandrine Castelain
Drones 2026, 10(1), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones10010071 - 21 Jan 2026
Viewed by 821
Abstract
Controlling pre-analytical conditions for medical biology tests, particularly during transport, is crucial for complying with the ISO 15189 standard and ensuring high-quality medical services. The use of drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, to transport clinical samples is growing in scale, but [...] Read more.
Controlling pre-analytical conditions for medical biology tests, particularly during transport, is crucial for complying with the ISO 15189 standard and ensuring high-quality medical services. The use of drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, to transport clinical samples is growing in scale, but requires prior validation to verify that there is no negative impact on the test results provided to doctors. This study aimed to establish a secure, high-quality solution for transporting biological samples by drone in a coastal region of France. The 80 km routes passed over several densely populated urban areas, with take-off and landing points within hospital grounds. The analytical and clinical impact of this mode of transport was compared according to two protocols: an interventional clinical trial on 30 volunteers compared to the reference transport by car, and an observational study on samples from 126 hospitalized patients compared to no transport. The system enabled samples to be transported without damage by maintaining freezing, refrigerated, and room temperatures throughout the flight, without any significant gain in travel time. Analytical variations were observed for sodium, folate, GGT, and platelet levels, with no clinical impact on the interpretation of the results. There is a risk of time-dependent alterations of blood glucose measurements in heparin tubes, which can be corrected by using fluoride tubes. This demonstrated the feasibility and security of transporting biological samples over long distances in line with the ISO 15189 standard. Controlling transport times remains crucial to assessing the quality of analyses. It is imperative to devise contingency plans for backup solutions to ensure the continuity of transportation in the event of inclement weather. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Healthcare Applications of Drones)
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24 pages, 639 KB  
Article
Human Machine Autonomy in Medical and Humanitarian Logistics in Remote and Infrastructure-Poor Settings
by Martha R. Grabowski, Gwendolyn Morgan, James McGarvey, Steve Roberts, Robert Squire, Sebastian Ibanez, Selmer Bringsjord and Aaron Rowen
Drones 2025, 9(12), 841; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones9120841 - 5 Dec 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 949
Abstract
Human–autonomy teams (HATs) incorporating uncrewed aerial systems (UASs) play critical roles in a variety of safety-critical systems. Increased autonomy in HATs in beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) UAS operations introduces new mission, safety, and logistics system performance challenges, and highlights the scarcity [...] Read more.
Human–autonomy teams (HATs) incorporating uncrewed aerial systems (UASs) play critical roles in a variety of safety-critical systems. Increased autonomy in HATs in beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) UAS operations introduces new mission, safety, and logistics system performance challenges, and highlights the scarcity of in situ empirical research examining UAS and operator performance and operator situation awareness in HATs with embedded autonomy, particularly in remote and infrastructure-poor settings. This work addresses this research gap and examines the challenges and contributions of HATs employing various levels of autonomy in remote humanitarian logistics delivery systems, using initial empirical data from an on-going study in a resource-constrained environment. The preliminary results suggest the importance of considering human and technology performance and perceptions in HATs together, particularly in infrastructure-poor settings such as the Arctic, where leveraging limited resources is critical and the force multiplication effects of HATs may have significant impact. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Healthcare Applications of Drones)
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