Saving lives: 5G will revolutionise healthcare

5G healthcare use cases will enable doctors and patients to stay more connected than ever. Wearable devices could alert healthcare providers when a patient is experiencing symptoms-like an internal defibrillator that automatically alerts a team of Emergency Room (ER) cardiologists to be ready for an incoming patient, with a complete record of data collected by the device. Typical 5G network provides 1-10 m sec latency, >1.5 Gbps of throughput, upto 1Gbps of speed, capacity upto 1million devices per square kilometre, supports mobility up to 500 Km/hour, security and reliability of 99.999 per cent. These features of 5G enable use of this technology in medical applications

5G will act as a catalyst for adoption by improving end user experience. During Covid- 19 there was an explosion in telehealth use cases to meet the huge demand on medical services and the need for avoiding physical contact/ maintaining social distance. As 60 per cent of the Indian population live in rural areas, where medical facilities are inadequate, teleconsultation, telemedicine, tele robotics technology, remote diagnostics etc., have a lot of relevance in our country. We can gainfully utilise the wisdom created by other countries and adopt medical use cases of other countries in our country also

5G technology will cause major disruption in many sectors and is a very hot topic now-a-days. The growth of Machine to Machine (M2M) communication will be fuelled by 5G technology and 5G Technology is '1G' as far as M2M communication is concerned.

Agriculture and medicine will have major applications of 5G and these applications in agriculture and medicine will cause real impact on the common man compared to the applications in other sectors.

Low latency, ultra reliability and high speed of 5G technology are transforming the health sector. Better and effective data transmission by this technology leads to early diagnostics. Following the coronavirus pandemic, remote support for quality health care has become important reducing the need for in - person visits to the doctor or health care facilities. 5G technology will offer real time experience to end users and extend medical support in rural areas ('India lives in its villages'), where primary health care facilities are not adequate. 5G can provide dedicated network slices for critical care and 5G network services can be customised as per health care requirements. 5G integrated and AI/ML enabled health care services provide more accurate and faster diagnosis of diseases.

5G healthcare use cases will enable doctors and patients to stay more connected than ever. Wearable devices could alert healthcare providers when a patient is experiencing symptoms-like an internal defibrillator that automatically alerts a team of Emergency Room (ER) cardiologists to be ready for an incoming patient, with a complete record of data collected by the device.

Typical 5G network provides 1-10 m sec latency, >1.5 Gbps of throughput, upto 1Gbps of speed, capacity upto 1million devices per square kilometre, supports mobility up to 500 Km/hour, security and reliability of 99.999 per cent. These features of 5G enable use of this technology in medical applications.

Some use cases of 5G in medical field

1. Connected ambulance: The ambulance transmits data and video to the hospital in real time. Because of high bandwidth, video can be streamed live. A GPS device tracks the ambulance. Doctors at the clinic can recognise vital signs, access reports in real time and respond quickly which helps the para medical staff at the ambulance to treat the patient preliminarily without loss of much time based on the instructions from doctors. The emergency treatment staff at the clinic can be well prepared to treat the patient when he reaches the clinic as they would have a better understanding of the patient.

2. Tele- robotic radiology for remote diagnostics: The system is mounted on a mobile robot for automated and contact free access. The system scans the tissues.

3. UV (Ultra violet) disinfection robot for hospital rooms and OT (Operation Theatre): 5G enabled robot with ultraviolet light systems disinfect and eliminate bacteria to create safe space for patient care.

4. Robot for hospital logistics: Robots (remotely controlled in real time using 5G network) can assist in the distribution of medical supplies, food delivery and medication reminders in hospitals.

5. Tele Intensive Care Unit (ICU): Doctors can watch the patient's real time video feed, vitals in real time and transfer high resolution files in real time. These files like MRI/CT scan require high-throughput computational processing for diagnostics.

6. Tele procedure transmission for education and training: Remotely surgeons can demonstrate procedures and provide guidance to medical college students as part of improving their skills and building skilled manpower. Using a 5G enabled AR/VR headset medical students can perform practice procedures in a virtual environment.

7. Medical delivery using a 5G enabled drone: This is an upcoming use case and soon will be a reality. 5G enabled drones can transport critical supplies, medical gadgets, medicines, blood and even organs. These deliveries can be done even for beyond the line of sight situations. These drones can be monitored and controlled remotely. Lot of R&D is taking place in this area.

8. 5G enabled AR/VR: Medical VR solution can convert a patient's 2D medical scans into 3D models which will be helpful for the doctor to explain clearly to the patient about the scanned image, for surgical planning and training.

9. AR/VR assistance to the blind: Using 5G enabled AR/VR headset the visually impaired individual can be connected in real time to a live advisor who can guide the patient for carrying out certain activities in his/her daily life.

10. Video analytics for behavioural recognition: In hospitals video analytics (using an edge computer) can be used to identify the patients behaving erratically. Use of 5G in this application allows higher bandwidth for sending high definition video for processing and analytics.

11. Video enabled medication adherence: 5G technology through the use of video enabled medication adherence, connects the pharmacist to the patient via video to ensure that correct medicine at right dosage is administered at the right time to the patient.

12. Tele medical services: Doctors at the remote place can conduct various medical tests before recommending the prescriptions to the patients. Large medical files can be transferred. High definition virtual consultation with patients and real time monitoring can be done. By using sensors, wearables and e-health devices patient's attributes can be collected and analysed. Reliable network is the key for this service and reliability is the USP of 5G technology.

13. Remote expert for collaboration in surgery: Ultra reliability of 5G is the very much required feature for robotic surgery. Although Telesurgery as a 5G use case is too futuristic, using a 5G enabled AR/VR headset a specialist can watch a real time surgery and guide the doctor doing the surgery.

Wayforward

Though some of the use cases can be delivered without 5G, 5G will act as a catalyst for adoption by improving end user experience. During Covid- 19 there was an explosion in telehealth use cases to meet the huge demand on medical services and the need for avoiding physical contact/ maintaining social distance. As 60 per cent of the Indian population live in rural areas, where medical facilities are inadequate, teleconsultation, telemedicine, tele robotics technology, remote diagnostics etc., have a lot of relevance in our country. We can gainfully utilise the wisdom created by other countries and adopt medical use cases of other countries in our country also. 'Health is wealth.'

(The author is a former Advisor, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India)