In a joint pilot program between UK startup Apian, drone company Wing (owned by Alphabet) and the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), drones will soon be used to urgently deliver blood samples between two hospitals in London. The initiators of the program claim that delivery, which took more than half an hour when using ground transport, can now be completed in less than 2 minutes.
Image Source: Wing
As part of a six-month pilot program, drones will deliver urgently needed blood samples to surgical patients at high risk of complications due to poor circulation. The project currently involves Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals in London. Control of the relevant airspace will be ensured by the Civil Aviation Authority.
This project is likely to be a precursor to other types of drone deliveries between London hospitals. In particular, similar testing on platelet delivery is already planned. The NHS has previously carried out similar trials in other parts of the UK and found no significant differences in blood delivered by drone compared to blood delivered by ground transport.
«Drones can improve the agility and resilience of healthcare logistics, allowing doctors to be more productive and patients to get the care they need faster. The NHS London drone delivery network, starting with this innovative trial, will provide automated and sustainable on-demand deliveries, helping the NHS create more efficient working models and our doctors and nurses delivering high-quality care to patients,” said Apian co-founder Dr Hammad Jeilani ( Hammad Jeilani).
Image source: Apian
Apian and Wing previously collaborated on drone delivery of medicines in Dublin, Ireland. Apian has also been testing medical drone delivery in rural areas of the UK. Apian has raised £5 million in seed funding in 2022 from a range of investors including LocalGlobe and KHP Ventures, the first venture capital fund founded and backed by the NHS.
Program participants note that CO2 emissions from mass blood delivery by drones will also be sharply reduced.