Summary Reader Response Draft 4

The article written by Balasubramanian (2022), "Drones May Become 'The Next Big Thing' in Healthcare Delivery," highlights the prospective use of healthcare drones, and that there could be a significant enhancement in healthcare efficiency, especially in rural areas. Automated External Defibrillators(AED) have been delivered within 3 minutes and a success rate of 92%, and recent developments have been made to advance drone technology and other drone applications. Some drones are also currently being used to deliver AEDs, vaccines, and medicines. Zipline is a prime example in this field of healthcare drones. The webpage "Zipline(drone delivery)"(n.d) from Handwiki elucidates the technical aspects of the drone. During delivery, the autonomous drone delivers packages by descending to 20-35 meters above the ground, dropping the healthcare package with a parachute. With a payload of 1.75 kilograms, a cruising speed of 101km/h, and an altitude of 80-120 meters above the ground, the drone is able to make delivery within 45 minutes. Batteries are quickly replaceable and fast turnaround flights are possible, and the fuselage's carbon-fiber frame and outer polystyrene shell enhance its lightweight capabilities". To summarize, I feel that the drone has the potential to reach revolutionize medical capabilities and greatly improve healthcare support all over the world, especially in rural areas.

Healthcare drones have the potential to propel efficiency in healthcare services and significantly increase the accessibility of medicinal treatment in rural areas, though some argue that drones infringe on people's privacy and threaten the safety of people on the ground.

Healthcare efficiency is enhanced through the use of the drone’s "supercapacitor-powered electric catapult launcher"(Handwiki)(n.d.). This device launches the drone instantly without the need for a runway. Because of the launcher's contribution to a short take-off distance, drone centers could be positioned in populated areas and operate with limited space, providing wider healthcare coverage and services to more communities. Furthermore, according to Wang, Jun Wu, and Huang(2018), the catapult launcher consists of a battery, charging circuit, supercapacitor, discharge circuit, and a linear motor, allowing the catapult system to work continuously, further increasing the speed at which healthcare drones can be dispatched. This improves the rate at which the drone center can cope with deliveries and thus, healthcare efficiency is greatly improved.

Accessibility to medical treatments will be greatly improved in rural areas through healthcare drones. An article from World Economic Forum (2022) claimed that 30,000 government-run primary healthcare centers serve a majority of India's 1.4 billion citizens, but 5-10% of the population do not have adequate access to medical supplies due to inaccessible geographic locations and natural disasters. This highlights the importance of healthcare drones and their capabilities to fly over rugged terrain and provides medical accessibility to rural villages. According to a webpage by AeoLogic (July ,2020), healthcare drones could also provide organ transportation, perform emergency surgeries, and deliver live video feeds of high-risk birth procedures. With the use of drone infrared cameras, doctors can detect tumors without any harmful procedures or radiation. Thus, villagers would be granted a higher healthcare quality without the need to travel on rough terrain, reinforcing the fact that the accessibility to medical treatments could be enhanced through healthcare drones.

However, the implementation of healthcare drones does not come without downsides. The programming of drones is necessary to allow drones to carry out tasks independently. As far as programming goes, there are bound to be risks of collisions with buildings, people, or wildlife, and people are cautious and wary about their privacy being invaded when healthcare drones are flying overhead. Healthcare drone programming-related issues such as bad flight planning or human programming mistakes could result in improper flight path planning and inaccurate data entry, which causes drones to crash into objects like buildings, electrical lines, or trees. The possibility of privacy invasion is another problem, as explained by Rao, Gopi, and Maione (2016), who claim that drones have the capability of entering properties undetected and recording information and with the increased usage of drones, the opportunities for misuse and illegal activities are more prevalent. As such, people’s insecurities about the implementation of healthcare drones are justified because they currently pose a potential threat to the safety of people on the ground and could invade the privacy of many.

In conclusion, the advantages and disadvantages of using healthcare drones for enhancing healthcare efficiency and the accessibility of healthcare treatment have been expounded through the course of this essay. With the current level of drone development, healthcare drones should be implemented slowly in the community to gain the public's trust. Furthermore, with bigger socio-economic support from the government and large hospitals in rural countries, healthcare drone projects will have heavy financial backing in technological developments which culminates in well-designed and dependable healthcare drones. As such, greater healthcare efficiency can be achieved in less developed countries and areas.

 

 

 

 

 

References

Balasubramanian, S., MD. (2022, January 10). Drones May Become ‘The Next Big Thing’ In Healthcare Delivery. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/saibala/2022/01/09/drones-may-become-the-next-big-thing-in-healthcare-delivery/?sh=1efeceb21e9b

Company: Zipline (drone delivery). (n.d.). In HandWiki. https://handwiki.org/wiki/Company:Zipline_(drone_delivery)

Aeologic. (2022, July 30). How Drones Will Transform Healthcare Industry. https://www.aeologic.com/blog/how-drones-will-transform-healthcare-industry/ 

Rao, B., Gopi, A.G., & Maione, R. (2016). The societal impact of commercial drones. Technology in Society, 45, 83-90.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X15300828?casa_token=cx1ZQoMzja0AAAAA:-9lsCLCjlU-Tl4eyLzL5cJ-te70Ov9iWhrXU2v6-nWUK5aPFjRnVxaeRgZSbE4etjnFvnhRstEzP0w

Wang, Z., Wu, J., & Huang, S. (2018). A hybrid power system for unmanned aerial vehicle electromagnetic launcher. AIP Conference Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5041153

How drones delivering vaccines are saving lines in India(2020).World Economic Forum General Meeting. https://www.weforum.org/impact/drones-delivering-vaccines/