Drone-based drug delivery model: i-Drone
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
Science & Technology
- Published
6th Oct, 2021
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Context
Recently, the Department of Health and Family Welfare introduced the Drone vaccine delivery model (Drone Response and Outreach in the Northeast).
About the Drone vaccine delivery model
- Developed by: the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
- Aim: To ensure that life-saving drugs reach everyone even in hard and inaccessible areas of India.
- The Drone is designed to overcome challenges by moving Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones to remote and hard-to-reach areas.
- This is the first time the "Make in India 'drone has been used in South Asia to deliver the COVID vaccine over a distance of more than 15 kilometers.
- Currently, a drone-based delivery project has been licensed to operate in Manipur and Nagaland, as well as in the Andaman and Nicobar Island unions.
- Permission was granted to ICMR for research into the feasibility of delivering the Covid-19 vaccine using drones, in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur.
What are Drones?
- Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs that can be maneuvered remotely by a pilot.
- Majorly, there are three subsets of Unmanned Aircraft:
- Model Aircraft
- Remotely Piloted Aircraft
- Autonomous Aircraft
- Based on their weight, drones can be divided into five categories:
- nano (weighing up to 250 g)
- micro (250 g to 2 kg)
- small (2-25 kg)
- medium (25-150 kg)
- large (over 150 kg)
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Significance
- It will help to fill the gaps in existing vaccination methods and can be used to deliver important life-saving drugs, collect blood samples etc.
- This technology can be used in critical situations. It can be a game changer in addressing challenges in health delivery, especially in the provision of health care in difficult areas.
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
- The Indian Research Fund Association (IRFA), founded in 1911 to conduct clinical research on tropical diseases took on a broader role after independence.
- It was rebuilt in 1949 as the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) under the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
- ICMR is India's highest body for the creation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, and also one of the oldest medical research institutes in the world.
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