Imagine drones flying over the city carrying organs for transplantation, skipping city traffic and saving valuable time-something like this may not be too far into the future, according to senior executives at Fortis Healthcare.

Over 300 organs were donated in Maharashtra but only half a dozen could be used for transplantations because of the lack of facilities to deliver them on time, according to Bhavdeep Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Fortis Healthcare.

Singh, who was in Chennai to celebrate 54 successful heart transplants at Fortis Malar, said they are experimenting with drones and are in talks with different stake holders for inter-state organ transplant.

KR Balakrishnan, Director, Cardiac Sciences, Fortis Centre for Heart Failure and Transplant, said, “We have done some trial rounds and the results are satisfactory. There is no reason why this shouldn’t be a solution.”

He said around 40 patients undergo heart transplant in the country every year. But the number can be scaled up to a 1,000 with a robust infrastructure in place. Of the 54 hearts used for the operation in Chennai, 13 were brought in from neighbouring states Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere within Tamil Nadu.

Air ambulances Currently, air ambulances are used to move organs from one state to another and then shifted through green corridors from the airport to the hospital. While liver and kidney could be sustained for longer hours, heart needs to be transported within two hours.

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