5G's Healthcare Implications To Watch For

From remote diagnosis, remote surgery, real-time monitoring to expanded telehealth etc. 5G represents a host of opportunities for healthcare. Let’s look at the possibilities of this technology for healthcare and how it can help bring a paradigm shift in the sector.

- Ayesha Siddiqui

Fifth-generation (5G) has gained much importance, development and investment in recent years. This technology has the potential to transform all the components of healthcare, which is especially important as the COVID-19 pandemic has put unparalleled stress on healthcare systems around the world.

Network providers and healthcare institutions are figuring out how best to incorporate this technology into the ecosystem. A new private 5G network from AT&T is helping to revolutionise the way patients and researchers connect at the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC, USA. The on-site 5G network is providing ultra-fast connectivity for patient-centred cancer research, treatment, and wellness education. The Ellison Institute is among the first medical facilities in the USA using 5G to help advance cancer research.

South Korea’s KT Corporation and the Samsung Medical Center (SMC) are working to build a smart hospital. They have jointly developed an innovative, 5G-powered medical service as an initial step to establishing a 5G smart hospital.

Sharing his thoughts, Joe Drygas, AT&T VP of Healthcare Industry Solutions, USA said, “5G has the potential to offer massive connection power, fast speeds and low latency that can help transform how healthcare is delivered. Think remote robotic surgery and quick downloads and transference of massive data files of medical imagery. 5G not only has the capacity to impact the Internet of Medical Things, but it also will help enable medical innovations using augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, remote medical learning, remote patient monitoring, and more. Healthcare providers will be able to build an entire ecosystem that creates highly responsive, effective, patient-centric experiences”.

Upgraded Telehealth