{"title":"Wings of Healing: regulatory landscape, case studies and the Indian prologue of drones in healthcare","authors":"Ankita Sharma, Anju Vijayan, Pavan Ananth, Deepshikha Chhetri, Rahul Konapur, Nachiket Gudi","doi":"10.1136/bmjinnov-2023-001179","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The healthcare sector is among the most rapidly expanding sectors. Drones are increasingly being used to reach the unreached in healthcare. Drones exhibit profound significance by overcoming accessibility challenges and offering versatile solutions. The future of healthcare is in the air, and new government initiatives uncover the country’s rapid market growth. Investments in drone technologies are rising, with research predicting significant drone expansion in the upcoming decade. Since this sector is still in its nascent stage, the time is ripe for stakeholders to collectively work for the effective implementation of drone technology in India. In this context, the paper seeks to bridge existing knowledge gaps by analysing the global regulatory landscape, the evolution of drones in India, used cases in healthcare, and the barriers that constrain their deployment in the healthcare domain. It explores the obstacles that hinder the widespread adoption of drones. Addressing these challenges becomes essential in unlocking the full potential of drone technology in revolutionising healthcare delivery, enhancing patient outcomes and overcoming logistical constraints. The report argues about the potential shift drones can bring to healthcare delivery while underlining the necessity of addressing regulatory concerns and fostering public trust.","PeriodicalId":53454,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Innovations","volume":"271 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"BMJ Innovations","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjinnov-2023-001179","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The healthcare sector is among the most rapidly expanding sectors. Drones are increasingly being used to reach the unreached in healthcare. Drones exhibit profound significance by overcoming accessibility challenges and offering versatile solutions. The future of healthcare is in the air, and new government initiatives uncover the country’s rapid market growth. Investments in drone technologies are rising, with research predicting significant drone expansion in the upcoming decade. Since this sector is still in its nascent stage, the time is ripe for stakeholders to collectively work for the effective implementation of drone technology in India. In this context, the paper seeks to bridge existing knowledge gaps by analysing the global regulatory landscape, the evolution of drones in India, used cases in healthcare, and the barriers that constrain their deployment in the healthcare domain. It explores the obstacles that hinder the widespread adoption of drones. Addressing these challenges becomes essential in unlocking the full potential of drone technology in revolutionising healthcare delivery, enhancing patient outcomes and overcoming logistical constraints. The report argues about the potential shift drones can bring to healthcare delivery while underlining the necessity of addressing regulatory concerns and fostering public trust.
期刊介绍:
Healthcare is undergoing a revolution and novel medical technologies are being developed to treat patients in better and faster ways. Mobile revolution has put a handheld computer in pockets of billions and we are ushering in an era of mHealth. In developed and developing world alike healthcare costs are a concern and frugal innovations are being promoted for bringing down the costs of healthcare. BMJ Innovations aims to promote innovative research which creates new, cost-effective medical devices, technologies, processes and systems that improve patient care, with particular focus on the needs of patients, physicians, and the health care industry as a whole and act as a platform to catalyse and seed more innovations. Submissions to BMJ Innovations will be considered from all clinical areas of medicine along with business and process innovations that make healthcare accessible and affordable. Submissions from groups of investigators engaged in international collaborations are especially encouraged. The broad areas of innovations that this journal aims to chronicle include but are not limited to: Medical devices, mHealth and wearable health technologies, Assistive technologies, Diagnostics, Health IT, systems and process innovation.