Where the roads end: drones for telemedicine

Are you looking at a good or bad drone? And if there were a definitive description, would you be able to distinguish between a good-or-bad-nearly invisible-drone at 500 feet in the air? Maybe this is just the wrong conversation to have. Because a drone is a tool, and just like any other tool it only amplifies a human action. So the conversation about ‘drones for good’ should really begin with understanding who’s controlling the vehicles as well as the system that supports them.

We founded Matternet on the premise that placing this burgeoning technology directly into the hands of people who had the greatest need would create the most profound impact. We estimated that by doing this we could positively impact over one billion people – one seventh of the world’s population – who currently don’t have access to all-season roads. Most developing nations find it difficult or nearly impossible to find the necessary investment to build and maintain road infrastructure.

So without finding an affordable alternative, those one billion people are placed into abject poverty, with little or no access to adequate healthcare, remaining unable to contribute to, or benefit from local and global trade.

In early 2011 we designed a simple system of autonomous flying vehicles, pre-designated landing stations and software that would be able to cost effectively transport matter to where need exists rather than to where roads end.

Since then – working with our partners – we’ve run a series of pilot programs in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to test the transportation of medical diagnostic samples from remote clinics to central hospitals where treatment can be more easily assessed.

Last month Matternet was invited to Bhutan by the World Health Organization to lay the foundations for a network to support Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay’s dream of creating an advanced telemedicine system to serve the people of Bhutan. Bhutan has only 0.3 physicians per 1,000 people (according to World Bank data). And with only 31 hospitals, 178 basic health unit clinics and 654 outreach clinics serving a population of over 700,000, the problem for many Bhutanese people is access. So for the pilot project, Matternet used autonomous flying robots to connect the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital in Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital, with three small rural healthcare units.

We believe that the business of building flying robots is at an inflection point. We believe it’s moving beyond the domain of the military, the hobbyist or enthusiasts to becoming a viable solution to the extreme needs of transportation, creating a new paradigm. Of course ‘doing good’ has only ever been defined by the clarity of intention and outcome of actions of those in control. By placing tools directly in to the hands of those in need we take our best first step toward 'drones for good'.