JIPMER introduces Nano Drone Service to Monitor Patients

Puducherry: Patients admitted to the centre-run Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER) would now be monitored using drones.

The premier institute has procured a nano drone that could be used for various medical purposes including monitoring patients in ICUs'.

Director of JIPMER R P Swaminathan commissioned the service recently, a release from the institute said Thursday.

JIPMER is the first government medical institute to introduce the innovative and unique service, it said.

Head of the IT wing Dr Ravi Kumar Chittoria, who is in charge of medical drone service said, "adoption of medical drones are well established in European countries whereas, in India, it is still in the preliminary stage."

He said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has defined five categories of drones including 'nano drones,' which weigh less than or equal to 250grams.

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Drones weighing more than 250 gms should be registered with the DGCA. The institute has already placed orders for microdrones weighing over250 gms and would get it registered, he said.

Nano drones can be flown into an ICU ward to check on patients without entering the ward to avoid the spread of infection.

The drone could also be used to monitor a large crowd of patients in Out Patient wards, which would be useful during emergencies.

It could be operated using internet connectivity provided by National Knowledge Network available from the National Informatics Centre (NIC) Puducherry.

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JIPMER which includes a tertiary care referral hospital is an Institution of National Importance (an autonomous body) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. The medical institution was established in the year 1823 by the French Government but was converted into Dhanvantari Medical College at the time of de facto transfer of Pondicherry to Government of India. This Medical College was later upgraded into Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research.