APAC's 5G ambitions in Healthcare

The surge in virtual healthcare has prompted physicians globally to engage in co-sharing their medical space and expertise. And Internet-of-Things (IoT) is driving next-generation smart healthcare. Boosted by advances in robotics, IoT and Artificial Intelligence, healthcare organisations across the globe have started using 5G network that promises to provide essential levels of connectivity to enable a new health ecosystem, which will align with a relatively recent idea known as 4P medicine—that is, it will be predictive, preventative, personalised and participatory, as noted by PwC.

- Hithaishi C Bhaskar

At present, most countries’ healthcare system widely uses the existing 4G (fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology) network and other communication technologies for smart healthcare applications. The existing communication technologies are unable to fulfil the complex and dynamic needs of the diverse smart healthcare applications, such as remote surgeries which imperatively require an ultrareliable network.

4G latency (lag time between input and output) is around 50 milliseconds, a delay long enough to prove devastating in an operating room. 5G (fifth generation mobile network) primarily aims to reduce latency to an almost instantaneous 2 milliseconds between devices. Hence a 5G network is essential to support smart healthcare infrastructure, through its ultra-low latency, high bandwidth, ultra-high reliability, high density and energy efficiency.

The ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) is advantageous for remote monitoring of pharma and medical devices, remote robotic surgeries, smart ambulance (logistics), and realtime augmented reality (AR)/ virtual reality (VR) applications. To list, 5G wireless technology, the Internet-of-Medical-Things (IoMT), artificial intelligence (AI), VR/AR tools and blockchain system are the five interconnected keys influencing digital healthcare. In summary, 5G transform current tedious manual processes into smartly automated workflows and provides integrated, enhanced patient care.