– Ishup Singh, Nepal Flying Labs
Hem Bahadur Tamang is now a drone pilot cum mechanic in the Drone Optimized Therapy System (DrOTS) project. Before the pandemic, he was flying a customized DJI Matrice 600 equipped with a medical cargo box that carried sputum samples 5 days a week. He comes from an impoverished family in Semjong, and after Nepal Flying Labs discovered him in social media, Hem is involved in drone technology service despite not having any technical education.
So what is DrOTS:
DrOTS (Drones Observation Treatment System) is a pilot initiative to test the usability of drones to improve Nepal’s rural health care services. The main objective of DrOTS is to observe and treat TB patients in rural Nepal (starting from Pyuthan district). DrOTS wants improvement in the availability of TB diagnostic tests run by using drones.
Nepal Flying Labs (a Nepalese chapter of the global flying labs network that uses robotics and AI for social good), DroNepal (the first drone service based regd. company in Nepal) and WeRobotics (a social non-profit organization focusing on ethical use of drones, data & AI) together with Medical Health Care Partner BNMT under the support of Stony Brook University, and the Simons Foundation., conceptualized the DrOTS to aid the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP Nepal) and the National TB Center among other organizations in application of drones to improve TB diagnosis.
How it works:
The project is now running in two local units of Pyuthan districts: Bijuwar Municipality & Bhingri Municipality. Upon the request of community health care workers in remote health posts, the drone is flown from central hospitals in Pyuthan and Bhingri. The drone brings the sputum back to the central hospital for testing. A precise GenExpert kit at the lab tests the samples and in the case of positive results, DOTS treatment is provided to the patients.
What has been accomplished till now?
This is the first operational medical cargo drones in rural health care projects in Nepal. DrOTS was able to successfully implement the use of DJI M600 industrial drone as a medical cargo drone in Nepal.
Following are some of the major accomplishments in Nepal till August 20, 2020.
- Permission to fly medical cargo drones beyond the line of sight was obtained for the first time from 12 government ministries and agencies.
- DrOTS has trained both Nepal Flying Labs and DroNepal for independent drone use.
- Implementation of precision landing at health posts has been done near the rural health posts.
- Sample collections are now collected via drones in 8 out of 12 Health Posts in Pyuthan district.
- 294 autonomous flights with medical samples have been carried out.
- Number of samples collected is 744 and 26 active TB cases have been identified.
- Red markers are the major health care facilities and blue markers are the several rural health centers near the major health centers. The straight lines are the representations of where the drones would actually carry medical supplies.
Challenges of Implementation of DrOTS:
- Securing permission takes a lot of time: While the permission system is regulated by Civil Aviation in other countries, Nepal brings the Ministry of Home Affairs to handle all the flight permission which adds up another step.
- Cost of Operation: Making drone technology cost-efficient is tough. Importing multiple drones is a challenge and Insurance plans should also be arranged.
- Ready to fly systems take time: Many preliminary activities from mapping of the area, proper setting up of drones network and learning/training of proper flight technique are important.
- Technical expertise: Technical manpower with knowledge and practice of drone technology is required to operate the drone system with minimum errors.
- Scalability: Scalability of technology from one place to another is challenging because it requires all steps starting from ground setup, drone network planning, station setups.
The Future, Recommendations
DrOTS has demonstrated that the lack of basic necessities at rural health posts can be dealt with by drone technology. Drones can be the aerial bridges that allow transferring of facilities and resources from central labs to rural health posts. If expanded well, DrOTS can benefit the sick in not only the Pyuthan area, but also in other rural parts.
Gallery:
Medical healthcare worker inserting the cargo box into the drone
the best photo of community kids looking at the drone or something similar
