France completes key drone test for organ transport and transplant

Moving organs by drone could dramatically speed up transplants, bringing a major benefit for patients. France has just completed a crucial test that could pave the way for this approach to be adopted more widely in hospitals.

Drones are already used to carry medicines and to move samples for laboratory analysis. Soon, France could also deploy them to transport human organs intended for transplantation, in order to improve the chances of a successful operation. In transplant surgery, time is critical - and drones can fly in a straight line, which can save valuable minutes.

What the Loire-Atlantique drone test involved

As reported by Le Figaro on 7 July, a pre-clinical trial took place in the town of Loroux-Bottereau, in Loire-Atlantique. During the test, a kidney intended for research was carried by an electric, autonomous drone flying at nearly 110 km/h, at an altitude of 80 metres.

Thanks to this, the organ reached its destination 60 kilometres away in 36 minutes. That is half the time required for a road journey, without even factoring in traffic jams.

The purpose of the trial was to assess, from a medical standpoint, whether transporting organs by drone is feasible. The drone also carried instruments to measure temperature and vibration.

Every minute counts for a transplant

Julien Branchereau, Secretary General of the French Association of Urology, explained to Le Figaro why turnaround times matter. In essence, when an organ is transplanted quickly, it “restarts” sooner and is also able to last longer. As noted above, drone transport could sharply reduce these delays.

Next steps: from a trial kidney to real-world routes

Because the pre-clinical test delivered “encouraging” results, the next stage would be to begin transporting a human kidney between the CHU of Nantes and the CHU of Roche-sur-Yon. After that, this mode of transport could be rolled out across France.

It is worth noting that drone transport during the test was provided by Delivrone, a company that already offers medical transport services.