The Indian Council of Medical Reserach (ICMR) in New Delhi. File
| Photo Credit: V.V. Krishnan
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday efficiently performed a trial run of delivery of blood luggage by drones under its iDrone initiative. The trial run, as half of a pathbreaking validation examine, has been undertaken for the primary time within the nation by the ICMR; Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC); Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Greater Noida; and the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology (JIIT), Noida, a launch issued by the Health Ministry stated.
The inaugural trial flight carried 10 items of entire blood samples from the GIMS and LHMC in visible line of sight. “LHMC and GIMS are included as centres for supplying blood bags and testing of the samples, while JIIT is acting as the implementation centre for drone sorties. The protocol development, study designing, implementation, and coordination of the project are being undertaken by scientists from ICMR-Headquarters,’‘ the Ministry said.
“The i-DRONE was first used during the COVID-19 pandemic by the ICMR for distributing vaccines to unreachable areas. Today, we are transporting blood and blood-related products which are supposed to be kept at a low temperature. After the experiment, we found that not only can we maintain the temperature, there was also no damage to the products transported. We sent another sample through an ambulance to see if there are no differences in the samples sent using the two modes — then this drone will be used all over India,” Rajiv Bahl, Director General, ICMR, stated.
Dr. Bahl stated that readability on problem mapping and figuring out doable options can be achieved by growing indigenous capacities in analysis, and the introduction of improvements and applied sciences within the mainstream.
Meanwhile, investigators from the LHMC, GIMS and JIIT will additional conduct drone flights to validate the standard of packed pink blood cells, recent frozen plasma, and platelets on this examine. The findings of this examine will present scientific proof from India for inspecting the impression of drone transportation on blood merchandise. It will result in growth of customary working procedures (SOP) for wider applicability, and the use of drones for the delivery of blood luggage and parts. Additionally, it’s going to present solutions to the query of whether or not drones shall be used as a way of transportation for temperature delicate blood merchandise in distant areas of the nation, the discharge famous.
