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World Journal of Emergency Medicine ›› 2023, Vol. 14 ›› Issue (4): 273-279.doi: 10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2023.066

• Original Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Unmanned aerial vehicle based intelligent triage system in mass-casualty incidents using 5G and artificial intelligence

Jiafa Lu1, Xin Wang2, Linghao Chen3, Xuedong Sun1, Rui Li1, Wanjing Zhong1, Yajing Fu1, Le Yang1, Weixiang Liu3, Wei Han1,4()   

  1. 1Emergency Department of Shenzhen University General Hospital, Shenzhen 518055, China
    2Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
    3School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
    4Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
  • Received:2022-11-09 Accepted:2023-03-02 Online:2023-06-12 Published:2023-07-01
  • Contact: Wei Han E-mail:sugh_hanwei@szu.edu.cn

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Rapid on-site triage is critical after mass-casualty incidents (MCIs) and other mass injury events. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been used in MCIs to search and rescue wounded individuals, but they mainly depend on the UAV operator’s experience. We used UAVs and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide a new technique for the triage of MCIs and more efficient solutions for emergency rescue.
METHODS: This was a preliminary experimental study. We developed an intelligent triage system based on two AI algorithms, namely OpenPose and YOLO. Volunteers were recruited to simulate the MCI scene and triage, combined with UAV and Fifth Generation (5G) Mobile Communication Technology real-time transmission technique, to achieve triage in the simulated MCI scene.
RESULTS: Seven postures were designed and recognized to achieve brief but meaningful triage in MCIs. Eight volunteers participated in the MCI simulation scenario. The results of simulation scenarios showed that the proposed method was feasible in tasks of triage for MCIs.
CONCLUSION: The proposed technique may provide an alternative technique for the triage of MCIs and is an innovative method in emergency rescue.

Key words: Mass-casualty incidents, Emergency medical service, Unmanned aerial vehicle, Fifth Generation Mobile Communication Technology, Artificial intelligence