Drone trial launches to deliver radioactive drug to hospitals

Skyfarer, a UK-based drone company, has partnered with University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust and Viking Drone Packaging to develop the Orca uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV).

This initiative aims to expedite the transport of time-sensitive medical treatments between hospitals, significantly reducing delivery times compared to traditional road transport.

The Orca drone is designed to carry payloads of up to 15kg (33lb). Current trials are underway in the Coventry area in central England; however, regulatory approvals are pending before the drone can commence operational flights.

The project team anticipates that, pending successful trials and approvals, the service could be operational within the next few years.

In conversation with the BBC Elliot Parnham, Chief Executive Officer of Skyfarer, said: “The Orca is poised to truly transform medical logistics, ensuring secure delivery of critical medicines which are encased in lead to hospitals and healthcare facilities across the region.”

Dr Lisa Rowley, Head of Nuclear Medicine and Vascular Ultrasound at UHCW NHS Trust, told the BBC: “We need to give patients a certain amount of a tracer [a small dose of a radioactive chemical] to enable us to get good, clear images from scans so that we can accurately diagnose their conditions.

“But these materials have a short half-life and start to decay rapidly, so it’s important we get them to patients as quickly as possible.

“If we can do that faster by drone rather than losing time taking the materials by road, then it will have the potential to make care increasingly accessible, especially for patients at more remote hospitals,” she said.

The UK’s National Police Air Service has announced it will trial Schiebel UAVs for use in England and Wales.