Temperature Controlled Transport of Vaccines by Drone In Developing Countries

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, vaccines must be transported within a temperature window of 2C to 8C. Much of the world's population does not have access to all season roads. Mountainous regions and regions experiencing violent conflict present challenges to vaccine delivery. Delivering vaccines by drone circumvents many of these problems. The typical drone can carry a 2kg payload. The current method for cooling vaccines is by conditioned ice pack. However, conditioned ice packs are heavy and consume approximately 1/3 or more of the drone's limited payload capacity. This project focuses on developing a more efficient way to keep vaccines cool within a drone's small payload, during transport between facilities regional healthcare facilities and smaller local facilities. The container will need to be packed by a regional worker at the origination point and unpacked by a local worker at the other end. The container needs to be easy to open and close. It needs to be easy to load. It cannot exceed a specific weight and cannot exceed a specific temperature window. Methods researched include redeveloping the ice packs and using simple insulation to finally develop a container that maintains a specific temperature range during transport more efficiently than current conditioned ice packs.