We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us

Download Mobile App




Futuristic Drone Station Automates Medical Payload Networking

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 17 Mar 2020
Print article
Image: The Station provides fully-automated payload exchange on hospital campuses (Photo courtesy of Matternet)
Image: The Station provides fully-automated payload exchange on hospital campuses (Photo courtesy of Matternet)
An urban environment drone station provides safe, fully-automated logistic medical payload exchange on hospital campuses.

The Matternet (Mountain View, CA, USA) Station is a strikingly designed architectural structure that occupies a small footprint and can be installed at both ground and rooftop locations; being about three meters tall, it does not compromise personal safety. Hospitals can use it to transport blood diagnostics, pathology specimens, and medicines between facilities and suppliers via secure, fast, and predictable aerial delivery. The Station is connected to the Matternet Cloud, giving flight directors sitting in a remote Matternet-enabled mission control center the ability to monitor operations, including inspecting vehicles and checking airspace before takeoff.

Each Station comes with its own automated aerial deconfliction system that manages drone traffic over the Station. The Station guides Matternet M2 drones to a precision landing, following which it locks the drone into place, and then automatically swaps its payload and battery. The Matternet Station uses an integrated authentication system to allow only authorized personnel to deposit or retrieve a payload by scanning their hospital identification (ID) badge. Payloads are tracked at every touchpoint to maintain a strong chain of custody. In its standard configuration, the Station holds four payload boxes, which are kept at a controlled temperature to ensure specimen integrity.

“We are building the technology platform for extremely fast, point-to-point, urban medical delivery, enabling hospital systems to shrink patient waiting times and save millions of dollars per year through the centralization of laboratories and medical inventory,” said Andreas Raptopoulos, CEO of Matternet. “Our vision is to connect every healthcare facility, in every metropolitan area, with the fastest transportation method available today. The Matternet Station is a very important part of the ecosystem for making this vision a reality.”

Drones are already being used around the world to transport vital medications, vaccines, and blood supplies. Using a GPS, the unmanned drones are able to fly autonomously, based on a pre-determined route, to the required location. They can reach a speed of up to 140 km/hour, fly in inclement weather and heavy winds, and are unimpeded by traffic concerns.

Related Links:
Matternet

Gold Member
Real-Time Diagnostics Onscreen Viewer
GEMweb Live
Gold Member
SARS‑CoV‑2/Flu A/Flu B/RSV Sample-To-Answer Test
SARS‑CoV‑2/Flu A/Flu B/RSV Cartridge (CE-IVD)
Silver Member
Wireless Mobile ECG Recorder
NR-1207-3/NR-1207-E
New
Transvaginal Tube
LiNA McCartney Tube

Print article

Channels

Surgical Techniques

view channel
Image: NTT and Olympus have begun the world\'s first joint demonstration experiment of a cloud endoscopy system (Photo courtesy of Olympus)

Cloud Endoscopy System Enables Real-Time Image Processing on the Cloud

Endoscopes, which are flexible tubes inserted into the body's natural openings for internal examination and biopsy collection, are becoming increasingly vital in medical diagnostics. Their minimal invasiveness... Read more

Patient Care

view channel
Image: The newly-launched solution can transform operating room scheduling and boost utilization rates (Photo courtesy of Fujitsu)

Surgical Capacity Optimization Solution Helps Hospitals Boost OR Utilization

An innovative solution has the capability to transform surgical capacity utilization by targeting the root cause of surgical block time inefficiencies. Fujitsu Limited’s (Tokyo, Japan) Surgical Capacity... Read more

Health IT

view channel
Image: First ever institution-specific model provides significant performance advantage over current population-derived models (Photo courtesy of Mount Sinai)

Machine Learning Model Improves Mortality Risk Prediction for Cardiac Surgery Patients

Machine learning algorithms have been deployed to create predictive models in various medical fields, with some demonstrating improved outcomes compared to their standard-of-care counterparts.... Read more

Point of Care

view channel
Image: The PATHFAST hs-cTnI-II high-sensitivity troponin assay has been developed for the PATHFAST Biomarker Analyzer (Photo courtesy of Polymedco)

POC Myocardial Infarction Test Delivers Results in 17 Minutes

Chest pain is the second leading cause of emergency department (ED) visits by adults in the United States, generating over 7 million visits annually. In the event of a suspected heart attack, physicians... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2024 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.