5G for a better healthcare.
The health crisis has revealed that it is not always possible, even in our developed countries, to receive treatment at all times, under optimal conditions. The deployment of 5G should enable new services to emerge in the medical field. Explanations.
Offering a reliable, ultra-fast connection and low latency, the 5G is finding very concrete applications in the field of healthcare. Ultimately, this new generation of mobile network should facilitate access to care for the greatest number of people and improve patient care. We explain how.
Remote surgery
Because it offers a data-rate that ensures excellent image quality and more fluidity, 5G must also allow remote operations to become more common. For example, we could benefit, in Luxembourg or elsewhere, from the expertise of a surgeon who usually practices on the other side of the world. The first experiment of this type was conducted in April 2019 in China. 3,000 kilometers separated the doctor from the patient! Thanks to connected arms, the surgeon was able to successfully implant a neuro-stimulator in 3 hours of operation.
The operating theatres may also be equipped with live streaming, augmented reality or virtual reality devices in order to train and prepare future healthcare professionals in the best possible way.
A better follow-up at home
Another perspective provided by 5G is the home care of senior citizens, patients who are chronically ill or who have just undergone an operation, for example. By installing connected devices, such as biomedical sensors, wireless blood pressure monitors or connected scales, it will be possible to collect data related to their state of health, which will be transmitted directly to doctors. These ones can then remotely adapt treatments, give advice or ask patients to visit them again.
Thus, 5G should make it possible to move from curative to more preventive medicine. It will offer better home care, particularly in countries and territories where fiber is not widely deployed.
The future of medicine
At the same time, 5G should help to facilitate access to medicine in poorly connected areas. A partnership between Helicus and Orange Belgium, for example, aims to measure the benefits of automated and urgent delivery of medical supplies by drone. Thanks to the 5G network, which offers very precise control of the drones, medical samples and specimens can, for example, be very quickly retrieved from a hospital and transferred to a biological analysis centre. Supplies can also be sent to areas not equipped with fibre.
With 5G, the collection of medical data, their transmission and sharing between professionals will be greatly facilitated, in a totally secure manner, while preserving the human relationships inseparable from the practice of these professions and improving patient comfort. Combined with other innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality or the Internet of Things, 5G will undoubtedly contribute to the development of tomorrow's medicine.