Access To Healthcare In Rural & Underdeveloped Areas Using Drones

Ryan Barker, Beatriz de Lucio, Kimberly Guerrero

OPPORTUNITY TECHNOLOGIES SOCIETAL CHALLENGES SOCIETAL IMPACT

Customers in rural communities often have difficulty in Enabling Technologies The team has identified four different societal challenges that Value Proposition Statement
accessing the proper healthcare. They are distant from SLAM is a simultaneous localization and mapping system which we may possibly face when our solution is developed and The use of drones to provide medical support in rural and
healthcare facilities and it can be challenging for them to uses lasers and lidar scanners to determine surroundings, implemented: underdeveloped areas is a fast, efficient and technically
travel. It can be just as challenging for doctors to reach the allowing our drones to navigate indoors [1]. A combination of Perspectives is viable solution.
Societal Challenges During
patients quickly, while transporting medical supplies. GPS and Starlink satellites will provide a dependable related to
connection for navigation and communication between users Skepticism from the target • Cultural The basic idea is that the hospital can be displaced where the
Development patient is, in areas and in situations where the patient will not
Primary stakeholders [2][5]. customer • Economic
• Residents of rural and underdeveloped regions be able to reach the hospital in reasonable time.
Lack of interest from the • Ethical
• Medical professionals Development
Flexible corrugated monocrystalline silicon solar cells allow medical practitioners • Economic
• The government This can be done thanks to a solution where specifically
passive charging, while being lighter than traditional solar cells Solution could be rejected by • Cultural designed drones can fly in minutes to the patient, carrying the
Implementation
[3]. Installing Grabat graphene polymer cell batteries on the society • Ethical/ Religious
necessary medicines and the doctor expertise, who is
Target customer drones will provide a lighter battery with increased energy [4]. • Political connected in real time with the patient and the people
Individual that lacks good access to healthcare: The drones from xFold will provide the base body for our Technology could be outlawed Implementation • Environmental
• Rural community surrounding the patient via the drone.
drones, due to their speed and carrying capacity [6]. The • Economic
• Underdeveloped community audio/visual capabilities will be achieved with Tenveo’s 3-in-1 Fig.5. Societal Challenges potentially faced
Photo by authors of the poster is unlicensed
conference camera [7].
Specific customer needs for the solution
• Reliable Skepticism From The Target Customer
• Affordable The target customer does not have experience with drones
• Speedy healthcare and automation technology, which may introduce some
• Readily accessible to them questions and difficulties:
• The solution may appear too complex to work and dismiss the project
from the beginning.
SOLUTION • The customers may believe that price will increase overtime and result
Fig.7. The use of drones to provide medical support is fast, efficient and technically viable
Photo courtesy of https://www.intelligentliving.com
unreachable for most.
Form
The proposed strategy to avoid these problems: Potential Societal Impacts
• 3.5ft x 3.5ft x 1ft drone • Speaker Fig.2. Drone, aircraft designed to improve access to healthcare, with audio/video capabilities
• 6 propellers • GPS Photo by authors of the poster is unlicensed • The solution is appropriately implemented step by step. Potential economic impacts:
• Landing legs (add 1 ft) • Antenna • The communities must be educated in how the drones would work. • Growth of jobs and research in remote robotics.
• Power 10,000 mAh to 20,000 mAh • Maximum payload of 90 pounds
• The prices are kept low thanks to technology advancement, and the • Improved medical care and efficient early response.
• Solar panel • Color black
• 4 underbelly hooks • Landing stabilization Technology Development Milestones clients get reduced prices.
• Max. flight time 3h • 100 mph max speed For the drones to archive their full potential there needs to be Potential impact regarding ethics:
• Camera • Wind sensor further development in the unnamed aircraft industry. Lack Of Interest From The Medical Practitioners • Threats to privacy if the technology is misused.
• Microphone • Pluviometer Another development phase challenge would be that • Vulnerability to hackers and evil system intruders.
medical practitioners might not be interested in this project,
Function among others, due to the following reasons: Potential environmental impacts:
• Difficulty in detaching from traditional medical practice face-to-face. • Drones could help during natural disasters.
The solution is improved healthcare using drones. The drones • Fear of being replaced by Telehealth services. • Drones may be able to provide early alerts in environmental concerns
would be able to attend medical emergencies and day to
day healthcare needs. The drones can connect medical Fig.3. Lighter solar cells, robust navigation systems and advanced batteries will be required
To remove this barrier, the implementation must make sure of: REFERENCES
Photos by unknow authors are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
practitioners to patients, they can transport medicines and • Integrating medical practitioners in the implementation of the solution,
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communicate. GPS provides guidance for remote navigation.
With speeds of 100 mph and a 3-hour flight time, the drones
are fast enough to provide emergency care. Solar panels can
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• Educate communities, stakeholders and general public. [Accessed: 29-Nov-2020].

• Practical demonstration of the benefits with early trial runs.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Dr. Lisa Zidek

Fig.1. Drone, aircraft designed to improve access to healthcare
Photo by authors of the poster is unlicensed
Florida Gulf Coast University
www.posterpresentations.com
Fig.4. Roadmap of Technology Development Milestones that must be achieved
Fig.6. Travel Time to Healthcare in different areas of the world
Photo by authors of the poster is unlicensed
Courtesy of Nature Medicine ISSN 1546-170X (online) [8]