A recent pilot project for the transport of frozen pathological specimens via drone, jointly developed by CHINA UNICOM and Ruijin Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, has yielded impressive results. Transport time for intraoperative frozen pathological specimens has been slashed from 20 minutes to just 2 minutes, achieving "direct aerial delivery." This nationally pioneering "window-to-window" direct transport model, connecting the operating room directly to the pathology department and paired with an automatic flight control system, has improved the efficiency of intraoperative frozen specimen transport by nearly tenfold. From its inaugural flight on September 29, 2025, to March 23, 2026, the project has successfully completed 1,325 flight missions, cumulatively transporting 1,426 specimens with a flawless safety record of "zero errors, zero accidents," setting a new industry benchmark for intelligent and precise medical low-altitude logistics.
The initiative directly addresses a critical bottleneck. In early 2025, with the commissioning of operating rooms in Ruijin Hospital's new gastrointestinal cancer building, the daily need to transport over 30 intraoperative frozen specimens to the pathology department across buildings became apparent. Traditional manual methods, hindered by building separation and elevator waits, often took more than 20 minutes during peak hours, directly impacting surgical efficiency and diagnostic speed. In response, CHINA UNICOM and Ruijin Hospital collaborated on an innovative solution, planning and designing a precise "window-to-window" drone logistics path. This involved establishing landing platforms and dedicated receiving windows on both the operating room and pathology department sides, creating a direct aerial link that bypasses any ground-based connections. Drones carrying specimens take off from the operating room window and automatically fly along a pre-set route to the pathology department window, truly enabling "immediate flight upon collection, immediate inspection upon arrival," completely overcoming the limitations of ground traffic and internal building circulation.
The entire project's technology selection and system construction were centered on the core principles of "precision, safety, and intelligence." To create a reliable "lifeline" for medical aerial channels, CHINA UNICOM and Ruijin Hospital jointly built a proactive safety defense and assurance system, deeply customized for the medical scenario and covering the entire end-to-end chain, with a key focus on breaking through technical bottlenecks in flight control and safety assurance. Leveraging the low-altitude intelligent network built by CHINA UNICOM, which integrates 5G/5G-A, dedicated video transmission networks, and satellite communication technology, the system can stably support high-definition video feedback from drones and real-time beyond-visual-line-of-sight transmission of flight control commands, even in complex hospital environments, ensuring reliable and unobstructed communication links. Concurrently, a customized medical drone monitoring platform was developed in partnership with the hospital, allowing administrators and the flight team to monitor the status, location, and flight environment of each drone in real time. Combined with a hospital-specific "one drone, one code, one flight" traceability mechanism, the system achieves transparent, digital management of the entire process from sample dispatch to arrival.
Furthermore, tailored for this specific scenario, the partners co-developed secure transport containers, dedicated landing pads, and security linkage mechanisms. This culminated in a complete safety闭环 (closed loop), spanning from "comprehensive communication, flight control, and precision navigation" to "specimen preservation and platform verification," minimizing risks from external interference and human error, and providing all-around protection for medical supplies and public safety.
The notable success of the pilot project opens new opportunities for extending low-altitude medical logistics applications. Looking ahead, CHINA UNICOM and Ruijin Hospital will focus on the core objective of "fully autonomous flight," iteratively optimizing the flight control system and conducting tests on fully automated, end-to-end flight technology. The goal is to achieve an unmanned transport闭环 (closed loop) where drones automatically take off after window loading, navigate autonomously, land precisely, and transfer specimens automatically, further enhancing the standardization and intelligence of the transport process.
With the "15th Five-Year Plan" explicitly identifying the "low-altitude economy" as a strategic emerging growth engine for the first time, CHINA UNICOM is fully committed to empowering its transition from a strategic blueprint to safe, large-scale operation. In the future, CHINA UNICOM will work with the hospital to gradually expand drone transport scenarios to include various medical supplies such as test specimens, emergency medicines, and blood products, and plans to build an "aerial medical logistics network" covering multiple hospital campuses, injecting new momentum into urban digital transformation.
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