Impact of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Transportation on Plasma Hemostasis Parameters

Objectives — To determine whether vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone transport affects parameters of a global hemostasis assay and to identify UAV transport conditions that preserve sample integrity. Methods — Platelet‑free plasma was prepared from whole‑blood samples collected from 30 healthy volunteers (11 men, 19 women; ages 22-38 years) according to pre‑analytical standard operating procedures. Thrombodynamics (Hemacore T-2, Russia) was employed to assess lag time (Tlag), initial and stationary clot-growth velocities (Vi, Vst), clot size (CS), clot density (D), and spontaneous clotting time (Tsp). Samples were evaluated under three conditions: (i) immediately after collection; (ii) after laboratory storage (reference); and (iii) after transport by the InnoVtol-3s VTOL UAV over distances up to 250 km. Results — No statistically significant differences were observed among the Immediate, Reference, and UAV‑transported groups for Vi, Vst, Tlag, CS, or D (Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn–Holm; padj ≥0.05 for all pairwise contrasts.) Spontaneous clotting time (Tsp) was absent in all samples within the observation window. Across all groups, values remained within analytical variation (