COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND — Researchers have successfully used an unmanned drone system to deliver a donor kidney, according to a University of Maryland news release.<br /><br />The drone was able to fly a kidney about 4.5 kilometers from a location in southwest Baltimore to surgical team at the medical center of the University of Maryland.<br /><br />The kidney was kept in a cargo compartment which was sealed while in the air. It is called HOMAL or Human Organ Monitoring and Quality Assurance Apparatus for Long-Distance Travel.<br /><br />The cargo box was able to maintain its own temperature while being able to track the altitude and GPS coordinates. This data was transmitted in real-time to the surgical team's smartphones.<br /><br />This was so that the doctors could make sure the kidney was still viable, as organs tend to become less and less healthier as soon as they are removed from a donor, according to the New York Times. <br /><br />The newspaper reports the kidney was then successfully transplanted onto a 44-year-old woman named Trina Glipsy in Baltimore.
