Drone trial success boosts rural healthcare access

“The trial was conducted successfully for transporting anti-tuberculosis drugs by drone from AIIMS helipad to District Hospital in Tehri Garhwal. TechEagle Innovations Private Limited has provided the drone service for this trial and technical support has been provided by National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC). Vertiplane X3 drone model was used in this demonstration and 2 kg of medicine was loaded to deliver these drugs at the hospital. Approx 40 km of aerial distance (one side) was covered within 30 minutes,” said a statement issued by AIIMS Rishikesh.

While the aerial distance between the two hospitals covered in the demonstration was just around 36 km, by road the same goes to around 75 km.

Talking to The Indian Express, Yash Sharma, Project Manager at TechEagle Innovations, said that their company is providing logistics via state-of-the-art drones to solve the problem of healthcare and logistics accessibility in rural and urban areas. The company was founded in July 2015 and started in the hostel garage of IIT Kanpur. In 2018, it did the world’s first tea delivery via drone in partnership with a Lucknow-based food delivery startup.

Sharma informed that Vertiplane X3 is the fastest ‘made-in-India hybrid’ e-VTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) drone with a maximum speed of 120 kmph, distance coverage of 100 km and a payload capacity of 3 kg. Studded with multiple fail-safe options and a dynamic design, this UAV is ideal for the delivery of cargo for healthcare, defence, maritime, hyperlocal, and e-commerce.

The drone has two propulsion systems, one for vertical motion and second for forward motion. Sharma said that by the end of this year, the company plans to launch a model with a carrying capacity of 25 kg. “India reported about one-fourth of the global TB burden and its elimination remains a challenge. Several obstacles such as poor transportation networks, hilly terrain, traffic, natural disasters affected regions, and harsh weather conditions severely affect the timely delivery of antitubercular medications. In addition to this, unforeseen delays in transporting sputum samples to the laboratory causes delay in treatment,” said the statement issued by the institute.

The statement said that the present project is intended to conduct long-term feasibility and develop a model to integrate the technology into the healthcare system as a supplement to existing logistics methods and suggest ways for the long-term sustainability of drone-based delivery of medical supplies. The project would also calculate the cost-effectiveness of delivering medicines and transportation of sputum samples to the laboratory via drone in Uttarakhand.