Pathologic Blood Samples Tolerate Exposure to Vibration and High Turbulence in Simulated Drone Flights, but Plasma Samples Should be Centrifuged After Flight.

Erik Fosse,Morten Hansbo,Karl Arne Johannessen,Nina Kristin Steen Wear,Jens Petter Berg,Karin Toska

doi:10.1109/jtehm.2021.3053172

Abstract

Objective. Most of the previous studies of drone transport of blood samples examined normal blood samples transported under tranquil air conditions. We studied the effects of 1- and 2-hour drone flights using random vibration and turbulence simulation (10-30 g-force) on blood samples from 16 healthy volunteers and 74 patients with varying diseased. Methods: Thirty-two of the most common analytes were tested. For biochemical analytes, we used plasma collected in lithium heparin tubes with and without separator gel. Gel samples were analyzed for the effect of separation by centrifugation before or after turbulence. Turbulence was simulated in an LDS V8900 high-force shaker using random vibration (range, 5–200 Hz), with samples randomly allocated to 1- or 2-hour flights with 25 or 50 episodes of turbulence from 10 to 30 G. Results: For all hematologic and most biochemical analytes, test results before and after turbulence exposure were similar (bias < 12%, intercepts < 10%). However, aspartate aminotransferase, folate, lactate dehydrogenase and lipid index increased significantly in samples separated by gel and centrifugation prior to vibration and turbulence test. These changes increased form 10 G to 30 G, but were not observed when the samples were separated after vibration and turbulence. Conclusions: Whole blood showed little vulnerability to turbulence, whereas plasma samples separated from blood cells by gel may be significantly influenced by turbulence when separated by spinning before the exposure. Centrifugation of plasma samples collected in tubes with separator gel should be avoided before drone flights that could be subject to turbulence.

Highlights

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, hereafter termed drones), have been tested for a broad range of civil applications, including industrial surveillance, business parcel delivery, and imaging
Vacuette collection tubes from Greiner Bio-One were used as follows: tubes coated with anticoagulant K2 EDTA for hematologic analytes; tubes containing sodium citrate were used for coagulation analytes; and lithium heparin tubes with and without separator gel were used for biochemical analytes
BLOOD SAMPLES Among the control samples, 42.9% of the test results were outside the reference intervals

Summary

Introduction

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, hereafter termed drones), have been tested for a broad range of civil applications, including industrial surveillance, business parcel delivery, and imaging. Search-and-rescue of survivors of natural disasters, delivery of medicines and vaccines to rural areas and care technology devices to emergency situations, and rapid transport of blood samples and organs, are some of the possible drone uses that have been investigated [1]–[8]. To assess whether drone transport represents a sustainable alternative to the existing highschedule transport systems, we need real-life situations to identify and overcome potential problems that may arise under challenging conditions, such as wide ranges in wind, precipitation and temperature, turbulence around and across. Johannessen et al.: Pathologic Blood Samples Tolerate Exposure to Vibration and High Turbulence infrastructures (i.e. around buildings and varying terrains) and more

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