An Uber For Organs: Drone Transports Kidney Over Five Kilometres For Transplant

In a first-of-its-kind endeavour, a kidney was transported and delivered by a drone in the United States, News18 reports. The specially designed high-tech drone had equipment attached to monitor the organ in the five-kilometre route to reach the recipient- a 44-year-old Baltimore woman who had spent eight years on dialysis.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the development would pave the way for faster and safer organ transport. The drone needed special clearance from aviation regulators and took off at 1 PM on 19 April and reached its destination in ten minutes at the height of 400 feet (120 meters).

"The next run could be over 30 miles, or 100. The distance is relatively unimportant," AFP quoted Doctor Joseph Scalea, one of the surgeons who performed the transplant. "The most important part is, we were able to implement drone technology into the current system of transplantation and transportation," he adds.

Scalea, who also has founded a company to manage data for organ shipments, believes that creating an Uber-like service in the field would reduce costs in transportation of organs.