- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
- Argentina's Milei vetoes university budget after huge protests
- TotalEnergies plans to grow oil and gas production until 2030
- 2024 Nobels offer glimmer of hope as global crises mount
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
- US voters seek help with crushing childcare costs
- Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
- Supercharged storms: how climate change amplifies cyclones
European hospitals test drones to speed delivery of human tissue
Belgian hospitals have begun testing a drone to save time delivering human tissue samples across city centres, between patients on the operating table and medical labs, a first in Europe.
On Tuesday, a drone flown by a private contractor took off from an Antwerp building in the ZNA hospital group and flew 800 metres to land on the roof of the GZA group's Sint-Augustus site.
Slung underneath the quadcopter was a sterile flask containing human tissue samples to be tested for cancer cells. The first test flight was followed by four more.
The private company Helicus is the only firm in Europe to have been granted a license to use unmanned aircraft for medical purposes, over cities and with a remote pilot out of light-on-sight.
The drone itself is manufactured by the Belgian firm SABCA, and Helicus hopes to have developed a commercial operation with regular flights by 2024.
Testing is ongoing, but the European Union is expected to adopt new rules next year that could see medical flights permitted across the 27-member bloc.
Michael Shamim, Helicus' chief executive, told AFP that hospitals are saving costs by centralising testing labs -- but then finding themselves more remote from patients.
"You need a fast logistics system. And that's where the drones come in," he said.
Drones are not affected by traffic delays and road closures, so their direct routes between hospital facilities are often quicker but also more predictable.
Antwerp's two big hospital groups, ZNA and GZA, handle 1,200 tissue samples extracted during surgery per year, and these must often be analysed swiftly in order to decide the course of the operation.
Currently, samples are taken to the city's four labs by road -- sometimes by taxi.
"When removing a tumour, the surgeon tries to spare surrounding tissue as much as possible," said pathologist Sabine Declercq.
"But to ensure the tumour has been completely removed, samples are sent to the lab during the procedure and the results must fall within thirty minutes."
For the moment, only samples intended for analysis such as human tissue and urine are ro be carried by drones, but Helicus hopes one day to carry blood transfusions and donor organs direct to patients.
U.Ndiaye--CPN