“Even organs can fly.” Under this slogan, on 13 April the DOT Foundation (Organ Donation and Transplants) presented the project on the “first experimental flight with a drone for the transport of organs and biological material” at the Molinette hospital in Turin.
Is called “INDOOR” (usING Drones fOr Organ tRansportation), the initiative promoted by the DOT Foundation in collaboration with the Interdepartmental Center for Service Robotics of the Turin Polytechnic (PIC4SeR), conceived to test the efficacy, safety and feasibility of using of remotely piloted aircraft in transplant medicine.
The test is scheduled for the end of April: a drone set in automatic navigation mode will depart from the CTO of Turin and land at the genetics building of the Molinette hospital, carrying with it a capsule containing “inert substances” (which simulate a sample of biological material), for a total distance of about 500 meters as the crow flies. That is the one that separates the two hospitals of the City of Health and Science of Turin.
“The initiative has a high degree of innovation and makes it possible to speed up and automate the transport of biological material and organs between hospitals in Piedmont, preserving the excellent quality and conservation of materials. With an added value: the significant reduction in costs of transport”, reads the description of the project. Providing a faster, cheaper and more sustainable alternative to traditional road transport is the stated goal of the campaign.
«This is an important result that brings us ever closer to the moment in which it will be possible to significantly reduce times and risks for the transport of organs. We assume that we can have a usable drone prototype by 2023 and we hope to be able to make the first real biological material transport flight within a couple of years. But let’s remember that without donations there are no transplants », he commented on the subject Antonio AmorosoPresident of the DOT Foundation and Director of the Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta Regional Transplant Center.
In addition to the Polytechnic University of Turin and PIC4SeR, institutional partners of the project are also the National Transplant Center, the Regional Transplant Center, the AOU Città della Salute, the University of Turin, ENAC (National Agency for Civil Aviation ) and Mavtech, a company dedicated to the development of innovative products for aerial surveillance and operational support aimed at civil applications.
The Roman precedent: medicines and organs aboard drones
The experiment presented at the Molinette in Turin has a Roman predecessor. Indeed, in July 2022, after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Lazio Region and Enac, an experimental flight of medical transport by drone had already been carried out in the “sand box” of Fiumicino airport: the flight had simulated a transport extraordinary amount of biomedical material, from the Roman airport to the center of the capital, through an automatic control mode whereby the aircraft did not require remote piloting.
The initiative is part of the project “Advanced Air Mobility” of Lazio, one of the first Italian regions to make use of this special air support: according to the planned plans, the Region should have a small fleet of drones available by the end of 2023, which can be used not only for the transport of medicines, but also organs and plasma.
The Mole Antonelliana lights up red
The presentation of the experimental flight in Turin was also an opportunity to celebrate the National Day of Donation and Transplantation 2023, scheduled for April 16, and to recall the importance of organ donation as a gesture of solidarity. For this reason, to make all citizens aware of the donation, on the night between 15 and 16 April 2023, the Mole Antonelliana will be illuminated in red with the image of a wrapped heart.