The flights were part of a joint trial between the NHS and healthcare logisticsstartupApian.
Its aim was to test the viability of blood samples following drone transport.
Five of them travelled viadroneover a 68km journey in a total of 61 minutes.
The other five were transported with ground vehicles across a 74.6km route, which took 68 minutes.
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They found no significant differences in the biochemical and haematological properties of the blood.
The startup was founded in 2020 by two NHS doctors and one Google alumni.
It has developed a logistics API that connects healthcare providers with the drone industry.
The platform takes healthcare orders, selects drone carriers, and provides scheduling, routing, and real-time tracking.
Alongside Northumbria, Apian has been running trials in Solent and Dublin.
Story byIoanna Lykiardopoulou
Ioanna is a writer at TNW.
With a background in the humanities, she has a soft spot for social impact-enabling technologies.
