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Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 100537

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Paul Royall

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Guest Editor

Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NH, UK
Interests: delivery of medicines by drone; the maintenance of quality of medicines and medical products by drone; exploration of the relationship between solid state properties and the performance of pharmaceutical materials and medicines
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Patrick Courtney

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Guest Editor

Tec-Connection, Oberlohnstrasse 3, D78467 Konstanz, Germany
Interests: laboratory robotics; materials logistics in the laboratory; system engineering; technology transfer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Uncrewed aerial vehicles have the potential for making a huge impact in the area of logistics and transport. Medicines are typically lightweight but are extremely valuable in terms of their impact on the health of global populations, thus making these items a potential focus for the development of drone-based delivery solutions. A number of very good recently published papers have highlighted this potential; however, they have been distributed across a number of disparate journals. To date, there has not been a dedicated Special Issue focusing solely on the use of drones for solving transport problems associated with the delivery of medicines. Thus, we propose to fulfil this unmet need by asking researchers in this area to contribute to a Special Issue entitled “Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics” to be published in the journal Drones.

The scope of such a publication is very broad and will create a large readership for the included papers. For example, the end users, those who wish to transport medicines to geographically challenging locations, would be very interested in reading the latest developments in the area of drone delivery. These would be academic groups, non-governmental agencies, health authorities, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and charities. Such a series of papers would be very useful for those involved in the development of new packaging and those researching and developing new medicines that will eventually come onto the market. Aeronautical engineers and those researching in the area of drone development would be very keen to read and cite these papers as the results and thus, potential specifications published within the Special Issue would go on and influence their up-and-coming designs. Those involved in the regulation of medicines, the governance of air transport and the regulation of airspace would also find such a Special Issue of importance to their work and such a series of publications is likely to influence their approach to regulatory decision making in the future.

The guest editors already have good academic links with the universities of Cranfield, Nottingham, Lancaster, Vienna, EPFL and Latvia where key findings in the area of drone development and delivery applications are being made. This is a firm basis from which the guest editors will reach out to European, African, Asian and American research groups to elicit interest and the submission of their most recent research findings. The guest editors have good links with chief hospital pharmacists, medical practitioners and non-governmental organisations who also have a stake in pushing back the frontiers of what a drone can deliver. Doctors Courtney and Royall also have excellent links and working relationships with drone, logistics and packaging companies such as the Drone Office, Osprey, Skyport, Softbox, Intelsius, SwissPost, DHL, GE aviation, Zipline, Viapath, Novartis, GSK, MSD and Pfizer. The guest editors would also seek to reach out to those researching in the sensing and control systems associated with drones, packaging, stability analysis and those interfacing with the public in terms of medicines use to gain their interest and research papers associated with the drone delivery of medicines. Thus, attracting the required number of high impact papers, the associated reviewers and readership will be achievable in a relatively short space of time.

Dr. Paul Royall
Dr. Patrick Courtney
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

medicines drone delivery
healthcare logistics
UAV for human health
medicines quality
medicines stability
drug packaging
medicines compliance

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Research

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9 pages, 1863 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Preliminary Clinical Validation of a Drone-Based Delivery System in Urban Scenarios Using a Smart Capsule for Blood

by Fabrizio Niglio, Paola Comite, Andrea Cannas, Angela Pirri and Giuseppe Tortora

Drones 2022, 6(8), 195; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones6080195 - 5 Aug 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3408

Abstract

In this paper, we report on the validation of an autonomous drone-based delivery system equipped with a smart capsule for the transportation of blood products in urban areas. The influence of some thermo-mechanical parameters, such as altitude, acceleration/deceleration, external temperature and humidity, on the specimens’ integrity were analyzed. The comparison of the results carried out by hemolytic tests, performed systematically on samples before and after each drone flight, clearly demonstrated that the integrity of blood is preserved and no adverse effects took place during the transport; these results can be addressed to the smart-capsule properties, which allows integrating real-time quality monitoring and control of the temperature experienced by blood products and mechanical vibrations. In addition, we demonstrated this transport system reduces the delivery time considerably. A risk analysis (i.e., HFMEA) was applied to all delivery processes to assess possible criticalities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a drone-based delivery system of blood products in an urban area has been validated to be employed in a future clinical scenario. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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17 pages, 5714 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Medical Drone Managing System for Automated External Defibrillator Delivery Service

by Boonchana Purahong, Thanavit Anuwongpinit, Aniwat Juhong, Isoon Kanjanasurat and Chuchart Pintaviooj

Drones 2022, 6(4), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones6040093 - 9 Apr 2022

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4445

Abstract

One of the common causes of a heart attack is fibrillation, a condition that causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. There is scientific evidence that the survival rate of sudden cardiac arrest patients who are rescued with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and with the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) is significantly increased. Despite the recommendation that automated external defibrillators should be installed in the workplace, along with a proper management system and training for employees on how to use the device, less than 70% of non-residential areas have an AED installed. The situation is even worse in residential areas, with less than 30% having an AED installed. This research concerns the development of a medical drone managing system that can deliver an AED in case of emergency. An application was developed that can be installed on the mobile phone and/or tablet of the patient or the accompanying person. In the event of a heart attack, the patient or the accompanying person can call a medical drone by sending coordinates to the drone station and a notification to medical staff. The drone station administrator can respond by sending the drone, which automatically lands at the patient’s location. After being tested in a simulation situation, the operational field test yielded satisfactory results. The medical drone can land within 1.5 m of the destination. The designed AED drone can be used not only to deliver AEDs, but also first aid kits and prescribed drugs suitable for medical care. Such a system is especially useful in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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24 pages, 2305 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design of a Service for Hospital Internal Transport of Urgent Pharmaceuticals via Drones

by Sara De Silvestri, Mirco Pagliarani, Filippo Tomasello, Diana Trojaniello and Alberto Sanna

Drones 2022, 6(3), 70; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones6030070 - 8 Mar 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6059

Abstract

The internal transport of medical goods in a hospital heavily relies on human resources that carry the materials on foot. Such mode of transport may be affected by inefficiencies, e.g., due to bottlenecks, and other logistic challenges. Thus, it may benefit from the use of unmanned aircraft systems in several aspects. Such a scenario introduces specific criticalities for healthcare organizations in densely populated areas and below congested airspace, such as the Milan metropolitan area. The authors applied a co-creation methodology to design a highly automated drone service for the delivery of pharmaceuticals at San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy. The needs of the main users were identified by means of semi-structured interviews and visualization material. Based on those outcomes, a drone service was designed and validated with the main users. It emerged that the main gain point of such a service would be increasing hospital logistics efficiency. The risks tied to the operations (e.g., tampering of the delivery container) were evaluated and appropriate mitigations were identified (e.g., use of tamper-evident seals or mechatronic locks). The information required by the digital system offering the needed logistics functions was analyzed for future development. Recent conceptual and regulatory advancements in the field of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in Europe were elaborated to outline the digital ecosystem in which aviation and non-aviation actors would exchange information to ensure operations’ efficiency, safety and regulatory compliance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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25 pages, 8071 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Conceptual Approach to Time Savings and Cost Competitiveness Assessments for Drone Transport of Biologic Samples with Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones)

by Karl Arne Johannessen

Drones 2022, 6(3), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones6030062 - 27 Feb 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4477

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, drones) are expected to save transport time and improve service reliability for transport of biologic samples, but few studies have evaluated the potential time savings of such services. The total transport time defined as time from sample ready for transport until arrival at the laboratory was used to assess the absolute and relative time savings of drones compared with ground transport, using ground distances from 4–7 km (urban model) to 179–262 km (rural district routes) with one to eight daily scheduled trips. Costs of existing ground transport were allocated to drone flight times as a proxy for drone cost competitiveness. Time savings were less than 20–30% in the urban model but 65–74% in the rural routes using drone speeds of 100 km/h, but the time between trips (route frequencies) and drone speeds influenced the relative time savings substantially. Cost of time gains per number of samples was less favorable using drones in the rural models due to lower transport volumes. This research concludes that drone solutions provide marginal gains for short-distance transports, whereas time savings are more promising in long transport models with appropriate scheduling and sufficiently high drone speeds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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20 pages, 4437 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quality Control of Red Blood Cell Solutions for Transfusion Transported via Drone Flight to a Remote Island

by Koki Yakushiji, Fumiatsu Yakushiji, Takanori Yokochi, Mikio Murata, Michiyo Nakahara, Naoki Hiroi and Hiroshi Fujita

Drones 2021, 5(3), 96; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5030096 - 13 Sep 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3299

Abstract

Long-distance transoceanic transport of blood using drones has never been reported. This study aimed to prove that blood transportation via drones can meet the rapid demand for blood transfusions anywhere in Japan, including remote islands. We demonstrated the transport of red blood cells (RBCs) packs using a drone over the sea from Sasebo to Arikawa port. Drone operations were conducted visually only at take-off and landing. Cruise flights were conducted via satellite-based remote control from Tokyo. The RBC solutions were transported at 2–6 °C to avoid hemolysis. Hemolysis was assessed visually and by measuring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels before departure and upon arrival at Tokyo Metropolitan Bokutoh Hospital to evaluate whether RBCs were transfusable. LDH levels of the RBC solutions before and after transport were 57.5 ± 3.1 vs. 64.0 ± 2.9. RBC solutions were transported via air and land from Tokyo to Sasebo and showed no remarkable signs of hemolysis. Remote RBC solution transport by uncrewed helicopters with temperature control is feasible and allows RBC transportation in emergencies involving disrupted land transportation, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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26 pages, 28168 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Quantifying the Effects of Vibration on Medicines in Transit Caused by Fixed-Wing and Multi-Copter Drones

by Andrew Oakey, Tim Waters, Wanqing Zhu, Paul G. Royall, Tom Cherrett, Patrick Courtney, Dennis Majoe and Nickolay Jelev

Drones 2021, 5(1), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5010022 - 13 Mar 2021

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 8075

Abstract

The concept of transporting medical products by drone is gaining a lot of interest amongst the medical and logistics communities. Such innovation has generated several questions, a key one being the potential effects of flight on the stability of medical products. The aims of this study were to quantify the vibration present within drone flight, study its effect on the quality of the medical insulin through live flight trials, and compare the effects of vibration from drone flight with traditional road transport. Three trials took place in which insulin ampoules and mock blood stocks were transported to site and flown using industry standard packaging by a fixed-wing or a multi-copter drone. Triaxial vibration measurements were acquired, both in-flight and during road transit, from which overall levels and frequency spectra were derived. British Pharmacopeia quality tests were undertaken in which the UV spectra of the flown insulin samples were compared to controls of known turbidity. In-flight vibration levels in both the drone types exceeded road induced levels by up to a factor of three, and predominant vibration occurred at significantly higher frequencies. Flown samples gave clear insulin solutions that met the British Pharmacopoeia specification, and no aggregation of insulin was detected. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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14 pages, 8093 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

A Quickly Deployed and UAS-Based Logistics Network for Delivery of Critical Medical Goods during Healthcare System Stress Periods: A Real Use Case in Valencia (Spain)

by Israel Quintanilla García, Norberto Vera Vélez, Pablo Alcaraz Martínez, Jordi Vidal Ull and Beatriz Fernández Gallo

Drones 2021, 5(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5010013 - 17 Feb 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5051

Abstract

On the one hand, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) have experienced great applicability surge in the recent years, arising as a promising technology with a wide field of use. On the other hand, healthcare, a critical system in modern society, is subject to a heavy and unexpected pressure in the case of situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This article aims to leverage the flexibility of UASs as complementary support for healthcare logistic systems when under high-stress conditions, via quick deployment of an air delivery network. We have defined a logistics network model and created three scenarios based on the model and current needs in Valencia (Spain). Flight tests have been performed in these scenarios, which include urban areas and controlled airspace. Operations complied with requirements derived from the application of Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) methodology, recently adopted by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Flights were successful, being able to swiftly deliver medical goods without requiring any dedicated infrastructure. However, a moderate number of contingencies took place during the tests, mainly related to control link quality and Air Traffic Management (ATM) integration, forcing the use of dedicated procedures to cope with them. Although additional development is required to ensure the safety of large-scale automated operations, the use of UASs as part of logistic networks is a feasible means to support existing structures, especially in situations in dire need. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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21 pages, 5397 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

An Evaluation of the Drone Delivery of Adrenaline Auto-Injectors for Anaphylaxis: Pharmacists’ Perceptions, Acceptance, and Concerns

by September Beck, Tam T. Bui, Andrew Davies, Patrick Courtney, Alex Brown, Jef Geudens and Paul G. Royall

Drones 2020, 4(4), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4040066 - 9 Oct 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 7170

Abstract

Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening condition where delays in medical treatment can be fatal. Such situations would benefit from the drone delivery of an adrenaline auto-injector such as EpiPen^®. This study evaluates the potential risk, reward, and impact of drone transportation on the stability of adrenaline during episodes of anaphylaxis. Further, this study examines pharmacists’ perceptions on drone delivery—pharmacists approved the use of drones to deliver EpiPen^® during emergencies but had concerns with drone safety and supply chain security. Laboratory simulated onboard drone conditions reflected typical missions. In these experiments, in vitro model and pharmaceutical equivalent formulations were subjected independently to 30 min vibrations at 5, 8.43, and 13.33 Hz, and temperature storage at 4, 25, 40, and 65 °C for 0, 0.5, 3, and 24 h. The chiral composition (an indicator of chemical purity that relates to molecular structure) and concentration of these adrenaline formulations were determined using ultraviolet (UV) and circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD). Adrenaline intrinsic stability was also explored by edge-of-failure experimentation to signpost the uppermost limits for safe transportation. During drone flight with EpiPen^®, the temperature and vibration g-force were 10.7 °C and 1.8 g, respectively. No adverse impact on adrenaline was observed during drone flight and laboratory-simulated conditions shown by conformation to the British Pharmacopeia standards (p > 0.05 for CD and UV). This study showed that drone delivery of EpiPen^® is feasible. There are more than 15,000 community pharmacies and ≈9000 GP surgeries spanning the UK, which are likely to provide achievable ranges and distances for the direct drone delivery of EpiPen^®. The authors recommend that when designing future missions, in addition to medicine stability testing that models the stresses imposed by drone flight, one must conduct a perceptions survey on the relevant group of medical professionals, because their insights, acceptance, and concerns are extremely valuable for the design and evaluation of the mission. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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20 pages, 667 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Context-Specific Challenges, Opportunities, and Ethics of Drones for Healthcare Delivery in the Eyes of Program Managers and Field Staff: A Multi-Site Qualitative Study

by Vyshnave Jeyabalan, Elysée Nouvet, Patrick Meier and Lorie Donelle

Drones 2020, 4(3), 44; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030044 - 17 Aug 2020

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 11308

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have significant potential in the healthcare field. Ethical and practical concerns, challenges, and complexities of using drones for specific and diverse healthcare purposes have been minimally explored to date. This paper aims to document and advance awareness of diverse context-specific concerns, challenges, and complexities encountered by individuals working on the front lines of drones for health. It draws on original qualitative research and data from semi-structured interviews (N = 16) with drones for health program managers and field staff in nine countries. Directed thematic analysis was used to analyze interviews and identify key ethical and practical concerns, challenges, and complexities experienced by participants in their work with drones for health projects. While some concerns, challenges, and complexities described by study participants were more technical in nature, for example, those related to drone technology and approval processes, the majority were not. The bulk of context-specific concerns and challenges identified by participants, we propose, could be mitigated through community engagement initiatives. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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Review

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24 pages, 900 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

How Do Dangerous Goods Regulations Apply to Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles Transporting Medical Cargos?

by Matt Grote, Tom Cherrett, Andrew Oakey, Paul G. Royall, Simon Whalley and Janet Dickinson

Drones 2021, 5(2), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5020038 - 13 May 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 8725

Abstract

Commercial operations of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) are expanding, with medical logistics using UAVs as part of health service supply chains being targeted. The ability to transport cargos that include items classified as Dangerous Goods (DG) is a significant factor in enabling UAV logistics to assist medical supply chains, but DG regulations for air transport have developed from the perspective of crewed aircraft and not UAVs. This paper provides an important audit of the current DG regulations, best practice in their application and the development of much-needed new governance that will be required to fully exploit UAVs for the safe transport of DG in medical logistics. Findings from the audit provide a summary of the circumstances and potential challenges resulting from the application of DG regulations as they stand to UAV operations, particularly for medical logistics, and convenient guidance on the practical implications of DG regulations for UAV operators. The main conclusion is that this is an under-researched domain, not yet given full consideration in a holistic way by regulators, governments, industry bodies, practitioners or academia. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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17 pages, 731 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Application of Drones in Healthcare and Health-Related Services in North America: A Scoping Review

by Bradley Hiebert, Elysée Nouvet, Vyshnave Jeyabalan and Lorie Donelle

Drones 2020, 4(3), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030030 - 4 Jul 2020

Cited by 54 | Viewed by 14965

Abstract

Using drone aircraft to deliver healthcare and other health-related services is a relatively new application of this technology in North America. For health service providers, drones represent a feasible means to increase their efficiency and ability to provide services to individuals, especially those in difficult to reach locations. This paper presents the results of a scoping review of the research literature to determine how drones are used for healthcare and health-related services in North America, and how such applications account for human operating and machine design factors. Data were collected from PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore using a block search protocol that combined 13 synonyms for “drone” and eight broad terms capturing healthcare and health-related services. Four-thousand-six-hundred-and-sixty-five documents were retrieved, and following a title, abstract, and full-text screening procedure completed by all authors, 29 documents were retained for analysis through an inductive coding process. Overall, findings indicate that drones may represent a financially feasible means to promote healthcare and health-related service accessibility for those in difficult-to-reach areas; however, further work is required to fully understand the costs to healthcare organizations and the communities they serve. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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Other

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8 pages, 2593 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperTechnical Note

Operational Study of Drone Spraying Application for the Disinfection of Surfaces against the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Higinio González Jorge, Luis Miguel González de Santos, Noelia Fariñas Álvarez, Joaquin Martínez Sánchez and Fermin Navarro Medina

Drones 2021, 5(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones5010018 - 7 Mar 2021

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 6395

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the need to maximize the cleanliness of outside public services and the need to disinfect these areas to reduce the virus transmission. This work evaluates the possibilities of using unmanned aircraft systems for disinfection tasks in these aeras. The operational study focuses on evaluating the static and dynamic behavior, as well as the influence of the flying height, mission speed and flow of spraying. The most recommended height for correct spraying with the drone system under study is 3.0 m. The dynamic test shows that the lower height, 3.0 m, also provides the most adequate spraying footprint, achieving 2.2 m for a speed of 0.5 m/s. The operational behavior is evaluated on three different scenarios, a skatepark with an area around 882.7 m², an outdoor gym with an area around 545.0 m² and a multisport court with an area around 2025.7 m². The cleaning time evaluates the flying duration, battery change and tank refill and results in 41 min for the skatepark (5 tank refills and 2 battery changes), 28.6 min for the outdoor gym (3 tank refills and 2 battery changes) and 96.4 min for the multisport court (11 tank refills and 5 battery changes). Each battery change and each tank refill are estimated to take 4 min each, with a drone autonomy of 7 min. The technology appears competitive compared to other forms of cleaning based, for example, on human operators. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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14 pages, 882 KiB

Open AccessLetter

Insights Before Flights: How Community Perceptions Can Make or Break Medical Drone Deliveries

by Susan Truog, Luciana Maxim, Charles Matemba, Carla Blauvelt, Hope Ngwira, Archimede Makaya, Susana Moreira, Emily Lawrence, Gabriella Ailstock, Andrea Weitz, Melissa West and Olivier Defawe

Drones 2020, 4(3), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030051 - 30 Aug 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 9955

Abstract

Drones are increasingly used to transport health products, but life-saving interventions can be stalled if local community concerns and preferences are not assessed and addressed. In order to inform the introduction of drones in new contexts, this paper analyzed similarities and differences in community perceptions of medical delivery drones in Malawi, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Dominican Republic (DR). Community perceptions were assessed using focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) conducted with stakeholders at the national level, at health facilities and in communities. Data were collected on respondents’ familiarity with drones, perceptions of benefits and risks of drones, advice on drone operations and recommendations on sharing information with the community. The comparative analysis found similar perceptions around the potential benefits of using drones, as well as important differences in the perceived risks of flying drones and culturally appropriate communication mechanisms based on the local context. Because community perceptions are heavily influenced by culture and local experiences, a similar assessment should be conducted before introducing drone activities in new areas and two-way feedback channels should be established once drone operations are established in an area. The extent to which a community understands and supports the use of drones to transport health products will ultimately play a critical role in the success or failure of the drone’s ability to bring life-saving products to those who need them. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Drones for Medicine Delivery and Healthcare Logistics)

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