LUBBOCK, Texas (PRESS RELEASE) — The following is a press release from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center:

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), in collaboration with Texas Tech University and 2THEDGE, a leading technology consulting and investment firm, on Wednesday (April 6th) unveiled the foundations for a future public-private collaboration supporting advancement of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) at a summit event on the TTUHSC campus.

The proposed Matador UAS Consortium would feature a collaborative effort among several regional commercial, educational and non-profit entities, including TTUHSC, Texas Tech University, South Plains College, LifeGift – an organ and tissue donation agency that serves Lubbock and Amarillo – and other organizations that together will combine their expertise to innovate and advance the operational and technical capabilities of UAS technology in West Texas and the Southern Plains region.

One of the early goals of the Matador Consortium will be to harness UAS technology to innovate rural health care services, particularly in the area of ​​safe and rapid supply of organs and tissues for life-saving treatment and research. collaboration with LifeGift.

“Our collaboration with LifeGift is an example of the transformative healthcare we envision for this region and across the state,” said TTUHSC President Lori RiceSpearman, Ph.D. “Combined with our telehealth efforts and telemedicine, UAS technology is truly an innovative approach to expanding access to quality healthcare in rural and underserved areas. Leading this summit with key stakeholders at the table was an opportunity to explore the broad applications of UAS in healthcare and identify strategic next steps towards building a comprehensive initiative.

The Matador UAS Consortium was born out of discussions among current founding collaborators seeking to improve organ procurement for rural areas by harnessing and deploying UAS technology and drones.

Currently, 110,000 people – 13,000 in Texas – need lifesaving transplants.

According to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, donated organs require special preservation methods to remain viable between the time of procurement and transplantation.

Common maximum organ retention times include:

• Heart, lung: 4 to 6 hours
• Liver: 8 to 12 hours
• Pancreas: 12 to 6 p.m.
• Kidney: 24 to 36 hours

“The use of drone transport of organs and associated tissues is a critically important mode of transportation to facilitate faster and more reliable movement of organs for transplantation, especially in rural areas such as the western of Texas and surrounding areas,” said Kevin, president and CEO of LifeGift. Myer said.

The Matador UAS Consortium will include a team of world-class UAS companies, university research departments, and U.S. government agencies, who are actively pushing the boundaries of Beyond Visual Line of Sight drone transportation using pipelines, electrical corridors, transmission and rail for uninterrupted flights. in remote locations – to conduct proof-of-concept research on the safe transport of UAS organs, tissues, organ health care supplies, and medications.

“The Matador UAS Consortium will leverage our business partner’s Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) expertise to create an extensive network of UAS corridors across West Texas,” said the Founder and Chief Technology Recognizer. by 2THEDGE, Tyson Harmon. “These corridors will facilitate safe and commercially viable UAS operations, starting with healthcare and expanding to encompass other commercial use cases.”

Matador UAS Consortium research aims to mitigate risks to biological materials and streamline organ transfer through the efficient use of drones in dedicated flight corridors that are not heavily impacted by conventional air traffic limitations . This will be accompanied by the creation of new packaging and containers for the safe transport of UAS cargo.

The consortium also plans to use its collaborative knowledge to harness drone technology for search, rescue, transport and recovery services; crop management; rural health care for underserved communities, transportation of large animal samples; renewable energy infrastructure; herd management; and professional training in drone technology and operations.

(Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center press release)