, a Swiss company, began a three-year test programme of its delivery drones under a program run by the N.C. Department of Transportation and authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration. The North Carolina program is one of 10 the FAA chose nationwide to try to determine how drones, or unmanned aircraft systems, can be put to commercial use in the United States.
The Matternet drone will carry vials of water from a medical office building across Sunnybrook and two other buildings before landing on the roof of WakeMed’s flagship hospital, said James Pearce, spokesman for NCDOT’s Division of Aviation. The goal is to gradually expand the flights until drones are carrying medical samples and supplies between WakeMed facilities in different parts of the county.
“We’re going to crawl, then walk, then run,” Pearce said. “We’re starting off that crawling process this week.”
While Matternet has made medical deliveries by drone in Switzerland, this will be the first time anyone has done it in the United States, Pearce said. It will also be one of the first times a drone will be authorized to fly beyond the line of sight of its pilot, though in this case there will be spotters along the way to follow the drone’s short flight at WakeMed.
“This ‘First Flight’ is a major step forward in the worlds of healthcare and unmanned technology,” said Basil Yap, head of NCDOT’s UAS Program. “We’re crossing a new frontier that will bring increased efficiency and lower costs to healthcare providers, and ultimately help save patients’ lives.”
The first round of flights is taking place starting today through Friday at WakeMed Raleigh Campus, the health system’s flagship hospital on New Bern Avenue in Southeast Raleigh. WakeMed is the leading provider of health services in Wake County and home to the area’s only Level I Trauma Center.
“This powerful technology has the potential to achieve transformative improvements in health and healthcare delivery,” said Stuart Ginn, MD, WakeMed ENT physician and medical director of WakeMed Innovations. “As a Level I Trauma Center, WakeMed is committed to providing life-saving treatment when time matters the most. Developing healthcare-related uses for drones will improve speed of deliveries, enhance access to care and create healthier communities.”
“This represents a major milestone for unmanned aviation in the U.S.,” said Andreas Raptopoulos, founder and CEO of Matternet. “We’re thrilled to be working with WakeMed and the NCDOT to launch the first medical drone delivery operations over densely populated areas in the U.S.”
To help ensure safe operations, AirMap is providing UAS Traffic Management (UTM) services for the flights. The AirMap UTM platform helps drone pilots stay aware of aircraft, weather conditions, airspace restrictions and other possible conflicts to ensure safe and efficient flights.
“Today’s initial operations demonstrate a very important commercial use case for drones with lifesaving potential,” said Ben Marcus, AirMap co-founder and chairman. “We look forward to working closely with NCDOT and the Federal Aviation Administration to operationalize and scale these drone missions to extend the benefits of drones to the general public.”
Sources: Press Release; The Herald Sun