ArticlePloS one2015
Can Unmanned Aerial Systems (Drones) Be Used for the Routine Transport of Chemistry, Hematology, and Coagulation Laboratory Specimens?
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Drone for medical products transportation in maternal healthcare: A systematic review and framework for future research.Medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Evaluating the use of drones within medical logistics: A patient-focused qualitative evaluation.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Reducing rural health inequity through drone-based delivery: a spatial multi-criteria decision framework prioritizing epidemiological vulnerability in hub location.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Drones in Health Care-A Flying Potential.Indian journal of community medicine : official publication of Indian Association of Preventive & Social Medicine · 2025Article
- Adopting drone technology for blood delivery: a feasibility study to evaluate its efficiency and sustainability.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Closing the air gap: the use of drones for studying wildlife ecophysiology.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Assessing the Feasibility of Drone-Mediated Vaccine Delivery: An Exploratory Study.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Improving early infant diagnosis for HIV-exposed infants using unmanned aerial vehicles for blood sample transportation in Conakry, Guinea: a comparative cost-effectiveness analysis.BMJ global health · 2023Article
- Exploring the transformative role of drone technology in advancing healthcare delivery in Africa; a perspective.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2023Article
- A hierarchical model for strategic and operational planning in blood transportation with drones.PloS one · 2023Article
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in the Logistics of Pandemic Vaccination: An Exact Analytical Approach for Any Number of Vaccination Centres.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- U-Space and UTM Deployment as an Opportunity for More Complex UAV Operations Including UAV Medical Transport.Journal of intelligent & robotic systems · 2022Article
- Article
- Article
- Drone versus ambulance for blood products transportation: an economic evaluation study.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- A Drone Logistic Model for Transporting the Complete Analytic Volume of a Large-Scale University Laboratory.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- The Moderating Role of Pro-Innovative Leadership and Gender as an Enabler for Future Drone Transports in Healthcare Systems.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Impact of Using Drones in Emergency Medicine: What Does the Future Hold?Open access emergency medicine : OAEM · 2021Review
- Pathologic Blood Samples Tolerate Exposure to Vibration and High Turbulence in Simulated Drone Flights, but Plasma Samples Should be Centrifuged After Flight.IEEE journal of translational engineering in health and medicine · 2021Article
- Application of Drone in Plastic Surgery.World journal of plastic surgery · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUnmanned Aerial Systems (UAS or drones) could potentially be used for the routine transport of small goods such as diagnostic clinical laboratory specimens. To the best of our knowledge, there is no published study of the impact of UAS transportation on laboratory tests.
methodsThree paired samples were obtained from each one of 56 adult volunteers in a single phlebotomy event (336 samples total): two tubes each for chemistry, hematology, and coagulation testing respectively. 168 samples were driven to the flight field and held stationary. The other 168 samples were flown in the UAS for a range of times, from 6 to 38 minutes. After the flight, 33 of the most common chemistry, hematology, and coagulation tests were performed. Statistical methods as well as performance criteria from four distinct clinical, academic, and regulatory bodies were used to evaluate the results.
resultsResults from flown and stationary sample pairs were similar for all 33 analytes. Bias and intercepts were <10% and <13% respectively for all analytes. Bland-Altman comparisons showed a mean difference of 3.2% for Glucose and <1% for other analytes. Only bicarbonate did not meet the strictest (Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Program) performance criteria. This was due to poor precision rather than bias. There were no systematic differences between laboratory-derived (analytic) CV's and the CV's of our flown versus terrestrial sample pairs however CV's from the sample pairs tended to be slightly higher than analytic CV's. The overall concordance, based on clinical stratification (normal versus abnormal), was 97%. Length of flight had no impact on the results.
conclusionsTransportation of laboratory specimens via small UASs does not affect the accuracy of routine chemistry, hematology, and coagulation tests results from selfsame samples. However it results in slightly poorer precision for some analytes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.