© Arnaud Serexhe / RTL
Luxembourg advances emergency healthcare with the introduction of a medical drone designed to quickly transport vital medical samples during emergencies.
Will Luxembourg be at the forefront of a new healthcare breakthrough?
Luxembourg is currently developing a medical drone to be used in critical emergency situations, where time is of the essence. Dubbed the "Griffin project", this innovative initiative brings together Luxembourg Air Ambulance, Laboratoires Réunis, Santé Services, and Post. The project aims to offer faster and more efficient transportation of medical samples across the country.
Weighing 20kg and with a wingspan of 2.70 metres, the drone successfully completed a test flight, taking off from the Robert Schuman Hospitals in Kirchberg at 7.30am. and landing just ten minutes later at the Laboratoires Réunis headquarters in Junglinster.
"The drone market has a huge potential, but there remain several hurdles before we can fully unleash their commercial potential. Their economic viability will depend on having several routes, several drones and, above all, enable drone pilots to operate several drones at the same time, in complete safety", Jérôme Pin, Deputy General Director of Luxembourg Air Ambulance explained.
A year of preparation
After nearly a year of planning, obtaining authorisations, selecting the ideal drone model, and training pilots, the project is now ready for lift-off. The team selected the 'Eiger' drone, manufactured by Rigitech in Switzerland.
"The drone will follow a pre-programmed route. So with the laptop, we're going to follow that route. This route is in an airspace, an air corridor, which we call a 'Geocage'", Frédéric Gaillard, the pilot, explained. "And every time the drone takes off, we're in constant communication with the airport control tower, with Luxembourg Air Rescue operations, and also with the Air Rescue helicopters. The drone flies at an altitude of 120 metres and at a speed of 30 m/s, which is equivalent to over 100 km/h."
The Laboratoires Réunis headquarters in Junglinster were eager to develop new innovative solutions which could save them time as well as potentially reduce their environmental impact. Currently, around twenty vans are used to transport medical samples to Junglinster from the sixty or so centres in the country.
"Of course, traffic in Luxembourg has been increasing for years and the roads are congested. The drone is a way for us to find a better way to transport medical samples. To relieve traffic and to think sustainably in terms of our CO2 emissions," according to Markus Recht, COO of Laboratoires Réunis.
With its 100 km range, the Eiger drone can cover the whole of Luxembourg. The next step is to reach agreements with the government's Directorate of Civil Aviation for additional flight routes and increased frequency, as it currently operates just two flights per week.
"Around eight flights a week in time slots from 7am to 9.30am. So you can imagine that to be able to operate a little more commercially in the future, we need to be able to extend these time slots," Jérôme Pin hopes.
Back in 1989, introducing helicopters into Luxembourg's Air Rescue fleet seemed revolutionary, and today, Air Rescue is pioneering innovative technologies with drones. The coming months will determine whether commercial activities with medical drones are viable path forward.
