DRONES IN ANIMAL HEALTH: TRANSFORMING LIFE SCIENCES IN THE WILDS OF HEALTHCARE
Global demand for animal products is predicted to increase by as much as 40% in the next 15 years, but the number of farmers raising animals continues to fall. At the same time, a growing segment of the consumer market is demonstrating a preference for products raised or grown with animal welfare and environmental sustainability measures in place, as well as demanding transparency that can be audited, assessed and verified.
As consumer trends continue to change approaches to farming through creative use of drone technology, ranchers and animal health providers can decrease the impact of livestock illness, improve herd health management and evolve their practices to meet today’s demands.
These trends have made digital technology as essential to farming as a tractor. RFID tags and wearable sensors can help farmers identify animals and monitor their health within short-range distances; what’s not been possible. However,it is at-scale of the style surveillance of herds in the wilds of vast and remote pastures, where cattle may roam for many months of the year – until now.
How drones Bring Animals to Life
While drone applications pose many challenges in populated urban and suburban regions, the rural setting of your local digitally-enabled farm or ranch may make these mesmerizing darlings more amenable. Jaguza team has designed a concept to aid in the management of animal health that includes a drone solution to monitor herd movements, body temperature and pain levels as detected using artificial intelligence (AI). If anomalies are detected, then ranchers and animal health providers (AHPs) are notified of a potential concern. Here’s how it may work.
With each animal wearing an RFID tag, an initial thermo-imaging body temperature scan of the herd by drones verifies presence, tracks movements and evaluates body temperature for irregularities vs. established norms for the species or for the individual animal over the previous seven days.
When irregular body temperatures are detected, the drone repositions on the face of the suspect animal to assess for signs of pain that may further indicate an illness or injury.
The rancher receives an update on herd activity and is alerted of the potential injury, illness or health issue to an animal through a dashboard displaying diagnostic data collected, including thermo-imaging, live image/video capture, pain index, last known location and available biostatistical references.
The AHP associated with the ranch could also receive a notification of the potential health concern that includes an animal EMR with data similar to that shared with the rancher. The AHP might contact the rancher for consultation regarding potential livestock illnesses spreading from ranch to ranch, or to set up an appointment to evaluate the animal. This could significantly reduce time in scheduling, diagnosis, care and administration of therapy for the animal.
