Drones could be used for transporting blood for transfusion in hospitals in rural areas, says study

Image: AP

  09 Dec 2016 , 10:02

Not just pizzas or groceries, drones can one day transport blood for transfusion to hospitals in rural areas — while keeping it safe and intact — in less time.

In what is believed to be the first proof-of-concept study of its kind, researchers from Johns Hopkins University have determined that large bags of blood products, such as those transfused into patients every day, can maintain temperature and cellular integrity while transported by drones.

Remotely-piloted drones are an effective, safe and timely way to quickly get blood products to remote accident or natural catastrophe sites, or other time-sensitive destinations.

“For rural areas that lack access to nearby clinics, or that may lack the infrastructure for collecting blood products or transporting them on their own, drones can provide that access,” says Timothy Amukele, assistant professor of pathology and the paper’s first author.

The new study examined the effects of drone transportation on larger amounts of blood products used for transfusion, which have significantly more complex handling, transport and storage requirements compared to blood samples for laboratory testing.

The team purchased six units of red blood cells, six units of platelets and six units of unthawed plasma from the American Red Cross, and then packed the units into a 5-quart cooler two to three units at a time.

The cooler was then attached to a commercial S900-model drone.

This particular drone model comes equipped with a camera mount, which the team removed and replaced with the cooler.

For each test, the drone was flown by remote control a distance of approximately 13 to 20 km while 328 feet above ground. This flight took up to 26.5 minutes.

The team designed the test to maintain temperature for the red blood cells, platelets and plasma units. They used wet ice, pre-calibrated thermal packs and dry ice for each type of blood product, respectively.

Following flight, all samples were transported to The Johns Hopkins Hospital where the team used the institution’s laboratories to check for any damage.

The team plans larger studies in the US and overseas and hopes to test methods of active cooling, such as programming a cooler to maintain a specific temperature.

The findings are forthcoming in the journal Transfusion.

IANS

GoPro Karma Recalled: Drones Losing Power and Falling Out of the Sky

GoPro Karma Recalled

NOV 09, 2016 MICHAEL ZHANG

GoPro made the shocking announcement today that it’s recalling each of the ~2,500 GoPro Karmacamera drones sold so far in the 16 days since it has been available. Why? Because there’s a chance the $799 drone can lose power during flight and fall out of the sky.

In a note to customers published on its website titled, “Karma Recall and Return Information,” GoPro says that it’s instructing all Karma owners to return their drones for a full refund while the “performance issue” is being investigated and fixed.

“GoPro is committed to providing our customers with great product experiences,” GoPro says. “To honor this commitment, we have recalled Karma until we resolve a performance issue related to a loss of power during operation.”

“We plan to resume shipment of Karma once the issue is addressed.”

GoPro says that a “small number” of Karma units have “lost power during operation,” and that it’s asking every Karma owner to stop using the drone and send it back to where they purchased it from, even if the drone appears to be working correctly.

No injuries have been reported thus far, but you don’t want the drone to suddenly fall on someone’s head or somewhere out of reach — you need to return both the Karma and everything it came with if you’d like a full refund.

The recall is a massive blow to GoPro, which has seen its stock fall from highs of $80+ in October 2014 to about $10 today. GoPro also had its highly anticipated Karma launch in September 2016 overshadowed by the launch of the Mavic drone by competitor (and drone market heavyweight) DJI.

GoPro’s Karma (bottom right) has faced stiff competition from DJI’s Mavic (upper left).

DJI’s Mavic is more compact than GoPro’s Karma and has been found to be greatly superior in some early reviews.

As with Samsung’s global recall of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, which has been found to spontaneously catch fire and explode, GoPro has an uphill battle if it hopes to convince current Karma owners to invest in the Karma again once the issue is identified and fixed.

Students from IIT Kharagpur developing in-house drones with indigenous hardware and software

  18 Oct 2016 , 12:44

A group of students at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur is developing drones using indigenous hardware and software, officials said on Monday.

The drones, being developed under the institute’s Aerial Robotics Kharagpur (ARK) initiative, are being given shape at the Centre for Excellence in Robotics, funded by the Sponsored Research & Industrial Consultancy (SRIC) facility of the Institute.

The Centre has received funding from the Institute to the extent of Rs 5 crores for 12 projects.

“Under the ARK initiative, drones are being developed, which would be capable of autonomous flight, localisation in GPS-denied environments, and tracking and interacting with mobile ground robots as well as other drones, and much more,” said Somesh Kumar of the Department of Mathematics, who is heading the initiative.

The ARK initiative aims to develop a flexible aerial robotics framework, which can be easily used to control aerial vehicles and eventually move to