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Drone system for COVID-19 testing wins HRB Special Award at the BTYSTE
The 2021 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE) was held online from 6 - 8 January, with a virtual event showcasing hundreds of projects from budding researchers right across Ireland. The HRB was proud to once again sponsor the HRB Special Award recognising excellence in health research – an honour that this year went to Andrei Florian, transition-year student at St. Aidan’s CBS in Dublin.
The winning project tackled a challenge facing healthcare systems across the globe: how can we make COVID-19 testing more efficient? Andrei’s solution is the CovidTestDrone – an autonomous drone that can deliver self-administered COVID tests directly to patients’ homes and back to the laboratory for analysis. “The system has the potential to enable patients to order a test and get their results back the same day,” he explains. “Compared to the conventional postal system, drone delivery redefines shipping times, allowing for test kits to be shipped to patients within minutes in a climatically controlled environment.”
The inspiration for the concept came from a personal brush with the novel coronavirus early in the pandemic. “When a friend had to get tested after a family member caught the virus, he waited two weeks to receive his result,” explains Andrei. “Luckily it was negative, but this time spent in limbo is very anxious for people while they have to quarantine.”
It took five months of hard graft for the project to make the journey from the drawing board to the BTYSTE virtual exhibition hall. The first step was building and programming the drone; then came the design of the innovative container module needed to hold the test kit and specimen. “I designed the container to be PIN locked so that only authorised people could access the kit and specimen,” Andrei explains. “The temperature inside the container can be easily regulated by adding a bed of dry ice, ensuring that shipping is in accordance with guidelines and keeps the sample intact.”
Following his success at the BTYSTE, Andrei hopes to continue pursuing his interest in health research in the future. “I’m fascinated by neuroscience; I think the human brain is the most beautiful biological creation and one which we are yet to fully comprehend,” he remarks. “I would love to work in neuroscience and expand our understanding of the brain, researching solutions to help people experiencing neurological difficulties.” And for HRB Chief Executive Mairead O’Driscoll, the winning project may well mark the start of a promising research career: “The drone idea is fantastic – and provides a solution for a very real challenge, which is the ultimate aim of all good health research,” she comments. “I’m sure it won’t be the last we hear from this talented young scientist!”