A Systematic Review of Drone Customization and Application in Public Health Innovation

A drone, also known as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), is an aircraft operated without a human pilot on board embedded with diverse capabilities. Recent advancements in drone technology have expanded their applicability beyond military and recreational use, enabling critical functions across civilian sectors. In particular, the integration of UAVs into healthcare systems presents new opportunities to overcome logistical barriers, especially in hard-to-reach or underserved regions. This review aims to explore the expanding horizon of drone services within the public health domain and identify future research avenues in this innovative field. In line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, this systematic review followed a structured approach to screen and select studies. Initially, a comprehensive search was conducted across five major databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, Web of Science, and Scopus. Search terms included combinations of "unmanned aerial vehicle," "drone," "UAV" with "public health," "healthcare delivery," "medical logistics," "telemedicine," and "remote healthcare." Boolean operators and search filters were applied to refine results, yielding an initial count of 1,200 articles from which only 36 have met our inclusion criteria. We found that drones are capable of serving in multiple arenas such as pharmaceutical delivery, blood and organ transportation, disaster response, aerial telemedicine stations, environmental monitoring, remote diagnostics, patient monitoring and care, training and simulation, nutritional support, water and sanitation, psychological support, bio medical waste management, public health surveillance, veterinary care, mobile laboratory services, support of elderly care and education and outreach.