Dr Lal PathLabs, the domestic network of national reference laboratories, clinical laboratories, patient service centers and sample pick-up points on Tuesday announced that it will use drones for transporting blood samples.

The company, in a statement, said that the use of drones would expand Dr Lal PathLab’s services of high-quality and advanced diagnostics to underserved and inaccessible locations.

“Time is critical in providing accurate reports to the treating physicians and helping them start the optimal treatment. The pilot projects are being launched across multiple remote, semi-urban and rural locations to experiment with multiple-use cases that eliminate challenges like congestion due to traffic, poor road conditions and inaccessibility,” the company said.

“As the leader in diagnostic industry, Dr Lal PathLabs is committed towards integration of new technologies into its existing logistics systems to further expedite sample collections. The use of drones could significantly speed-up regular and emergency medical care in rural areas and help save lives. We are initiating pilot projects in different parts of the country. If these first trial runs are successful, we are hopeful to expand drone sample collection services at scale across India soon,” said Amit Aggarwal, Head Logistics and Home Collection.