4月19日，肾脏首次使用无人机送给了马里兰大学医学中心的外科医生。该肾脏是从一家位于三英里外的医院带来的。
E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine, said, ‘This major advance in human medicine and transplantation exemplifies two key components of our mission: innovation and collaboration.’
肾脏成功地将来自巴尔的摩的一名44岁女性移植到了一名44岁的女性中。她患有肾衰竭，在手术进行之前已经透析了八年。几天后出院的病人说：“整个事情都很棒。几年前，这不是您会想到的。’
带来肾脏的无人机是一种定制的型号，具有八个转子和不同的动力总成，以确保其保持稳定。它还具有独特的设备，用于维护和监视可行的人体器官，从而确保在整个飞行过程中保持运输的肾脏处于最佳状态。
无人机还具有一个无线网络网络，用于控制无人机并与地面机组人员进行通信。研究小组在运输实际的肾脏之前已经进行了许多测试。他们试验了盐水，血管和其他物品以外的其他物品的运输。
Matthew Scassero, MPA, director of UMD’s UAS Test Site, part of A. James Clark School of Engineering, said, ‘We had to create a new system that was still within the regulatory structure of the FAA, but also capable of carrying the additional weight of the organ, cameras, and organ tracking, communications, and safety systems over an urban, densely populated area—for a longer distance and with more endurance. There’s a tremendous amount of pressure knowing there’s a person waiting for that organ, but it’s also a special privilege to be a part of this critical mission.’
Joseph Scalea, MD, assistant professor of surgery at UMSOM, project lead, and one of the surgeons who performed the transplant at UMMC, said, ‘There remains a woeful disparity between the number of recipients on the organ transplant waiting list and the total number of transplantable organs. This new technology has the potential to help widen the donor organ pool and access to transplantation. Delivering an organ from a donor to a patient is a sacred duty with many moving parts. It is critical that we find ways of doing this better.’
