ArticleJournal of general and family medicine2025
Demonstration of autonomous fixed-wing drone delivery of prescribed medications in remote islands in Japan.
Article in Journal of general and family medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Demonstration of autonomous fixed-wing drone delivery of prescribed medications in remote islands in Japan.Journal of general and family medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: In rural areas, physicians and dentists often dispense medications without pharmacists. Technology that can safely and promptly deliver medications is required so that pharmacists, even those at a distance, can dispense them in a timely manner. Methods: We demonstrated a combination of online medication counseling and drone delivery of medications dispensed by pharmacists in two rural clinics located far from pharmacies on remote islands in Japan. After being prescribed by physicians, dispensed by pharmacists, and online medication counseling, the medications were transported by autonomous fixed-wing drones, dropped, and picked up by the staff. Following Japanese regulations, our drones could only fly over the sea and drop medications on the shore. After the demonstration, we administered a questionnaire. Results: A total of 62 patients participated in the demonstration, which was successful except for two patients whose drone deliveries were canceled because of strong winds. Most patients received their medications after more than an hour. Individual home delivery costs were involved because the delivery spot was restricted to the shore. More than 80% of the patients were satisfied with online medication counseling, but a few expressed the desire to receive their medication at the clinic. Conclusions: Prescribed medication delivery using drones was technically feasible. This project will contribute to separating the prescribing and dispensing functions, promote pharmacist participation in rural areas, and expand patient treatment options. Methods for checking and monitoring the delivery spot, ensuring successful delivery, and covering the cost of drone delivery need further exploration.
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.