Last year, a drone delivered research kidneys a distance of 10 miles, from an airport to a small town in the Las Vegas desert.* This also marked the farthest distance for an organ delivery flight in drone history.

While the kidney was transported for research purposes only, scientists took biopsies before and after the flight, and they found there were no changes to tissue architecture nor cell viability. The only downside to the drone flight was that the aircraft could hold only about 22 pounds, reducing the amount of ice the team would normally use in a commercial flight.

Why are other kidney delivery methods necessary?

Organs are usually transported via commercial aircraft, but the coronavirus pandemic has significantly reduced the number of flights available. For example, United Airlines and American Airlines halved their number of flights in September, and Southwest Airlines has cut theirs by 25%. Drone delivery gives researchers and organ recipients more options for prompt delivery.

The director of kidney and pancreas transplantation at Medstar Georgetown Transplant Institute, Dr. Matthew Cooper, explains that organs are disposed of if flights are unavailable to deliver them before they become nonviable. A kidney is estimated to survive outside the body for 36 to 48 hours after it has been recovered, according to the federal Health Resources and Service Administration.

Unfortunately, the United States discards about 3,500 kidneys a year, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. This is significant because nearly 100,000 Americans are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, and about 12 people die each day, according to the National Kidney Foundation. Luckily, drones may have the potential to reduce the number of discards. 

Improvements to be made

To optimize future flights, experts are looking at making some helpful changes. A technology company is looking at adding GPS software that monitors the quality of the trip and the organ from the hospital’s operating room to the transplant center. In addition, researchers are exploring larger drone aircraft to allow the transport of heavier cargo to include more ice, multiple organs, and medical devices for organ preservation.

As Joe Ferreira, CEO and president of the Nevada Donor Network, emphasizes, “There’s a number of things you have to prove to be able to ensure that it’s [drone delivery] safe, effective and reliable. We’re in the beginning stages of providing this mode of transport on behalf of the heroic donors and their courageous families.”

Photographika, Inc. / Sammy Vassilev

*Rodriguez, A. U. T. (2020, Sept. 28). Drone carries human kidney over Las Vegas desert in what could be the future of organ transportation. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/09/28/drone-used-transport-human-kidney-airport-las-vegas-nevada/3528614001/