Skyports Drone Service and AZ Turnhout, a healthcare provider in the Turnhout region, have launched an on-demand medical drone delivery trial in Kempen, Belgium. The trial started on 1 August and will see drones flying five days a week to transport medical cargo between two hospitals, with A-kwadraat as a central operational hub.
The project is using the RigiTech Eiger to fly the A-kwadraat to AZ Herentals route, which takes 13 minutes with the drone, compared to 30 minutes by road. The drone has an average cruise speed of 29 m/s, a nominal operating altitude of 80 metres, and a maximum payload of 3 kg. Meanwhile, the A-kwadraat to St Jozef route will be served by the Speedbird DLV2, flying the 4.4 km route in seven minutes, in contrast to 16 minutes by road, with a maximum payload of 5 kg, a nominal operating altitude of 50 metres, and an average cruise speed of 16 m/s.
Additionally, Skyports has secured regulatory approval for the drones to be piloted remotely from its Remote Operations Centre (ROC) in Buckinghamshire.
In preparation for this trial, airspace receivers were installed on the roofs of all the hospitals in the region, and precision landing QR codes were placed at each location to mark the automated drone landing sites.
“By transporting medical samples and medication quickly and reliably through the air, Skyports is enabling the future centralisation of laboratory activities in specialised hubs such as A-kwadraat,” said Jef Geudens, Head of Technology, Skyports Drone Services. “This means that not every hospital needs to invest in the same costly infrastructure. At the same time, this can help accelerate access to personalised treatments – such as patient-specific chemotherapy – which can be delivered faster and made available across multiple locations.”
“As a hospital, we are of course very enthusiastic about this project,” commented Griet Braekmans, Director of Facilities and Project Manager at AZ Turnhout. “For years, we’ve been working together with hospitals in the Kempen region and A-kwadraat in the areas of medication and pathology samples. Over the past five years, we’ve focused on organising transport between hospitals in an efficient and sustainable way. With drones, we can provide more personalised care for patients and improve collaboration between hospitals.”
Photo: Skyports
