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Time is of the essence when it comes to getting organs to patients who need them, and a recent test may have sparked a breakthrough in how they’re delivered. On April 19, a drone successfully delivered a donor kidney to surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center . It marked the first time a drone has been used to deliver an organ to a transplant patient. The drone traveled about three miles to deliver the kidney, according to MIT Technology Review . According to a UMMC press release, the patient was a 44-year-old woman from Baltimore who’d spent eight years on dialysis before the procedure. She was discharged a few days later. Dr. Joseph R. Scalea, assistant professor of surgery at UMSOM, and one of the surgeons who performed the transplant at UMMC, said: “There remains a woeful disparity between the number of recipients on the organ transplant waiting list and the total number of transplantable organs. This new technology has the potential to help widen the donor...
Most people don’t think of drones as a way to get things like coffee delivered to your door, but that may be changing soon. On Tuesday, Wing — a startup owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet — announced it had become the first certified air carrier for drones in the United States. The company received Air Carrier Certification from the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This is a big milestone because without it Wing wouldn’t be able to pursue commercial deliveries. “This is an important step forward for the safe testing and integration of drones into our economy. Safety continues to be our Number One priority as this technology continues to develop and realize its full potential,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Elaine L. Chao. Wing noted that for communities across the country, the ability to deliver commercial goods by drones opens up a lot of new opportunities. The company said, “Goods like medicine or food can now be delivered faster by drone,...
On Tuesday, Wing — a startup owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet — confirmed its launch of one of the first drone delivery services in the world. In a blog post , Wing revealed it launched its first air service in Canberra, Australia . To start, the service will be available to 100 homes in Crace, Palmerston, and Franklin, the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said . Wing shared its plans to expand into Harrison and Gungahlin in the coming months. By using Wing’s services, customers can order items like fresh food or hot coffee on a mobile app. Through its partnership with local Canberra businesses, drones will be able to deliver in a matter of minutes. In a video, Kickstart Expresso — one of the participating businesses — outlined just how the drone service works. A CASA spokesperson told Business Insider that the agency approved Wing’s delivery service, noting that it was “very likely” a world first. CASA found that the operations met an “acceptable level of...
The city of Raleigh is launching a groundbreaking drone program that could change the way hospitals approach transporting supplies. Getting medical supplies from one location to another can be a time-consuming task for some hospitals — especially those in large metropolitan areas — and when you’re transporting materials like blood or organs, every second counts. Hospitals are now turning to tech to save time. Recently, UPS partnered with Matternet , a drone tech company, to deliver medical samples at WakeMed’s Raleigh campus using unmanned drones. WakeMed is a group of healthcare buildings, including hospitals, with facilities throughout the city. Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the North Carolina Department of Transportation provided oversight for the project, according to the press release. Not only is this an interesting application of drone technology, but it marks a historical moment. Bala Ganesh, vice president of UPS’ advanced technology group, said, according to...