Can Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) Be Used for the Routine Transport of Chemistry, Hematology, and Coagulation Laboratory Specimens?

Amukele, Timothy; Sokoll, Lori J.; Pepper, Daniel; Howard, Dana; Street, Jeff

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0134020

Cited by 108 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Previous work on UAV transport of laboratory specimens focused on routine chemistry, hematology, and coagulation tests (8). The results of this small study are consistent with the possibility of using of UAVs for the transport of microbiological samples.…”

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confidence: 85%

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Drone Transport of Microbes in Blood and Sputum Laboratory Specimens

et al. 2016

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Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) could potentially be used to transport microbiological specimens. To examine the impact of UAVs on microbiological specimens, blood and sputum culture specimens were seeded with usual pathogens and flown in a UAV for 30 ؎ 2 min. Times to recovery, colony counts, morphologies, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS)-based identifications of the flown and stationary specimens were similar for all microbes studied.O ne of the factors that worsened the West African Ebola outbreak was the poor roads that hindered the transport of biological samples (1, 2). While the problem of poor road access is not new or unique to West Africa, there is now a relatively inexpensive solution with a relatively low barrier to implementation, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Because of this low barrier, the use of UAVs in industries such as the film, mining, and agriculture industries is expanding rapidly. These industries represent the majority of the 5,292 exemptions that the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority has granted so far (as of June 2016) for the use of UAVs (http://www.faa.gov/uas/beyond_the_basics/section_333/). One reason the use of UAVs in health care lags behind that in other industries is that transporting biological specimens requires additional specimen-specific validation (3-7). UAVs are a viable way to transport laboratory specimens only if the UAVs do not adversely affect the results for those specimens (3-7). For example, pneumatic tubes commonly used for in-house hospital transportation cause damage to various types of specimens (6, 7). The forces applied on a sample transported by a UAV include sudden accelerations and decelerations, exposure to ambient temperatures, and other impacts which cannot be predicted a priori. In addition, the work presented here will help to provide a template for future validation experiments using other UAVs, organisms, sample types, or environments. In this report, we examine the impact of drone transport on blood and sputum specimens (Fig. 1).Six sets of paired aerobic and anaerobic Bactec blood culture bottles were inoculated with 10 ml of whole blood from a commercial blood bank and spiked with one of four organisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, or Bacteroides fragilis), for a total of 12 bottles per organism. S. aureus and E. coli strains were clinical isolates. The S. pneumoniae (ATCC 49619) and B. fragilis (ATCC 25285) strains were standard type strains. Dilutions were made in Mueller-Hinton broth to achieve final concentrations of 10 CFU/ml of whole blood added (see Data Set S1 in the supplemental material). Plate counts were performed to verify anticipated spike levels.Pathogen-free (containing only normal flora), nonmucoidal sputa (such as those recovered from patients without cystic fibrosis) were collected from the Johns Hopkins Hospital clinical microbiology laboratory over a 10-day period. Samples from patients with a history of acid-fast bacillus ...

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confidence: 85%

“…Our approach to address this was described earlier (8). Briefly, we considered environmental variables that might be relevant for this mode of transportation, including temperature, atmospheric pressure, and acceleration.…”

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Drone Transport of Microbes in Blood and Sputum Laboratory Specimens

et al. 2016

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“…Flirtey has used UAVs to deliver medical supplies to rural areas of Virginia [13], Matternet has tested UAVs for medical supply distribution in Bhutan [14] and Papua New-Guinea [15], Zipline (formerly Stork) has proposed UAVs to transport blood and essential medications in Tanzania [16], UNICEF is testing the feasibility of UAVs to transport lab samples in Malawi [17], and Delft University of Technology has tested UAVs to deliver defibrillators after cardiac arrest in the Netherlands [18]. Studies have also proposed UAVs for routine transport of blood samples in the United States [19,20]. UAViators, a network to coordinate the use of UAVs in humanitarian settings, lists case studies of UAV use in two dozen countries including disaster surveillance, search and rescue operations, risk factor mapping, and supply delivery following earthquakes [21].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

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The economic and operational value of using drones to transport vaccines

Haidari

Brown

Ferguson

et al. 2016

Vaccine

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Background Immunization programs in low and middle income countries (LMICs) face numerous challenges in getting life-saving vaccines to the people who need them. As unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has progressed in recent years, potential use cases for UAVs have proliferated due to their ability to traverse difficult terrains, reduce labor, and replace fleets of vehicles that require costly maintenance. Methods Using a HERMES-generated simulation model, we performed sensitivity analyses to assess the impact of using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) for routine vaccine distribution under a range of circumstances reflecting variations in geography, population, road conditions, and vaccine schedules. We also identified the UAV payload and UAS costs necessary for a UAS to be favorable over a traditional multi-tiered land transport system (TMLTS). Results Implementing the UAS in the baseline scenario improved vaccine availability (96% versus 94%) and produced logistics cost savings of $0.08 per dose administered as compared to the TMLTS. The UAS maintained cost savings in all sensitivity analyses, ranging from $0.05 to $0.21 per dose administered. The minimum UAV payloads necessary to achieve cost savings over the TMLTS, for the various vaccine schedules and UAS costs and lifetimes tested, were substantially smaller (up to 0.40 L) than the currently assumed UAV payload of 1.5 L. Similarly, the maximum UAS costs that could achieve savings over the TMLTS were greater than the currently assumed costs under realistic flight conditions. Conclusion Implementing a UAS could increase vaccine availability and decrease costs in a wide range of settings and circumstances if the drones are used frequently enough to overcome the capital costs of installing and maintaining the system. Our computational model showed that major drivers of costs savings from using UAS are road speed of traditional land vehicles, the number of people needing to be vaccinated, and the distance that needs to be traveled.

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“…These networks should include innovations in data capture and management, such as e-health and electronic medical records and geographical information systems, and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for sample delivery from remote areas should be explored. 22 …”

Section: Addressing Barriers To Access To Viral Loadmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early antiretroviral therapy initiation: access and equity of viral load testing for HIV treatment monitoring

Peter

Ellenberger

Kim

et al. 2017

The Lancet Infectious Diseases

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Scaling up access to HIV viral load testing for individuals undergoing antiretroviral therapy in low-resource settings is a global health priority, as emphasised by research showing the benefits of suppressed viral load for the individual and the whole population. Historically, large-scale diagnostic test implementation has been slow and incomplete because of service delivery and other challenges. Building on lessons from the past, in this Personal View we propose a new framework to accelerate viral load scale-up and ensure equitable access to this essential test. The framework includes the following steps: (1) ensuring adequate financial investment in scaling up this test; (2) achieving pricing agreements and consolidating procurement to lower prices of the test; (3) strengthening functional tiered laboratory networks and systems to expand access to reliable, high-quality testing across countries; (4) strengthening national leadership, with prioritisation of laboratory services; and (5) demand creation and uptake of test results by clinicians, nurses, and patients, which will be vital in ensuring viral load tests are appropriately used to improve the quality of care. The use of dried blood spots to stabilise and ship samples from clinics to laboratories, and the use of point-of-care diagnostic tests, will also be important for ensuring access, especially in settings with reduced laboratory capacity. For countries that have just started to scale up viral load testing, lessons can be learnt from countries such as Botswana, Brazil, South Africa, and Thailand, which have already established viral load programmes. This framework might be useful for guiding the implementation of viral load with the aim of achieving the new global HIV 90-90-90 goals by 2020.

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Can Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) Be Used for the Routine Transport of Chemistry, Hematology, and Coagulation Laboratory Specimens?

Cited by 108 publications

References 17 publications

Drone Transport of Microbes in Blood and Sputum Laboratory Specimens

Drone Transport of Microbes in Blood and Sputum Laboratory Specimens

The economic and operational value of using drones to transport vaccines

Early antiretroviral therapy initiation: access and equity of viral load testing for HIV treatment monitoring

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