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WASHINGTON (AFP) – A kidney needed for transplantation was delivered by a drone for the first time in its history, the University of Maryland Medical Center said, which could allow faster and faster organ transport. safer.
The high-tech drone was equipped with kidney monitoring equipment all the way from its 5-kilometer journey to its recipient: a 44-year-old woman from Baltimore who had spent eight years on dialysis before procedure.
The drone, which required special authorization from the aviation regulatory authorities, took off at 19:00 in the morning and flew at an altitude of 120 m approximately 10 minutes before landing at its destination.
Dr. Joseph Scalea, who was part of the team of surgeons who performed the transplant, praised the success of the project and said that drone deliveries could help to overcome the delays that destroy the viability of the drones. an organ.
"The next race could be more than 30 miles, or 100. The distance is relatively unimportant," he told AFP on Wednesday. "The most important thing is that we have been able to integrate drone technology into the current transplant and transport system."
Current transportation methods involve expensive charter flights or even variable commercial flights, sometimes resulting in delays, and typically cost around $ 5,000 ($ 6,800).
According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, nearly 114,000 people were on the waiting lists for an organ transplant in the United States in 2018.
About 1.5% of dead donor organ collections did not reach the intended destination, while nearly 4% of organ harvesting had an unplanned delay of two hours or more.
Scalea, who founded a company that manages the data for organ shipments, compared the system to an Uber-type service that would ultimately prove less expensive.
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