Drone transports donor lung across Toronto

An unmanned drone has managed to transport a donor lung across the busy Canadian city of Toronto.

Death sentence, without a donor lung

Alain Hodak, a 63-year-old man from Ottawa, Canada, received a disturbing diagnosis in 2019: pulmonary fibrosis. This incurable lung disease can only be treated by implanting two donor lungs. His condition deteriorated rapidly in 2021, leaving no choice but a transplant. Lungs finally became available in 2022. Donor organs must be transported very quickly to prevent them from dying. In the case of a donor lung, the standard time is ten hours. The organ donor was in one hospital in Toronto, Hodak in another.

The big advantage of transport with drones is that no airports are needed. It is also not necessary to transport the donor organ from one means of transport to another. Not to mention the risk of traffic jams and traffic lights. The drone travels directly from destination to destination. 53 drone test flights were conducted between the two hospitals to make absolutely sure nothing would go wrong. Meanwhile, Hodak and his wife rented an apartment near Toronto so that they could be there quickly if a donor organ became available.

At the end of September the time had come, and a donor lung became available. This was prepared for transport to the hospital by filling it with oxygen and adjusting it to the correct temperature in a cool box. Then the doctors loaded the cooler into the drone. To be on the safe side, the drone was equipped with a parachute, so that it would land in one piece on the ground in case of emergency. Fortunately, these precautions turned out not to be necessary and within minutes the drone arrived at the hospital with the lungs.

The operation went well and Hodak can now breathe more or less normally. After this successful test, they hope that this method can also work for longer distances.