5G has arrived. Far is the old 1G telephony network, present in the first generation of mobile phones with which we could only talk. The arrival of 3G allowed us to have an Internet connection from almost anywhere and, with 4G and broadband, we achieved what, until now, was at the peak of telecommunications. 

Then, we constantly hear a barrage of news related to 5G and how this new technology is going to change our lives, but do we know what 5G is?

What is 5G?

The name 5G refers to the fifth generation of mobile networks that will allow browsing at a higher speed and significantly reduce the latency time and the response time of the network. 5G technology is capable of increasing the speed of web browsing up to 10 gigabytes per second, which means that we can navigate 10 times faster than with the current fastest optical fibers on the market. Also, the network response time could be reduced to 5 milliseconds. This means that we could get an Internet connection automatically, in real-time. 

But how could this new mobile phone network impacts  today’s medicine?

Smart ambulances

Enhanced connectivity in emergency care allows paramedics to capture a patient’s vital signs, share data with hospitals in near real-time, and makes a faster and more accurate diagnosis. Robotic devices also stand to gain from 5G technology. This is the case of a robotic glove used in emergency care and connected to a doctor in a hospital during an ultrasound.  The paramedic can feel the vibrations through the glove and direct it to scan the areas that the clinician wants to see, allowing to capture and analyze the images live and at a distance.

Use of virtual reality

Augmented or virtual reality and space computing have enormous potential to transform health – and 5G is a vital component in sustaining them. By generating virtual training environments, these tools can help medical professionals develop the skills they need to succeed in complex surgeries and procedures without putting real patients at risk.

Affordable remote care

The future of remote care is possible through the systems of implantable or wearable devices, which monitor various parameters of vital signs recorded by different sensors placed on the body surface and transmit this data to doctors. In traditional clinical trials, the scope and ability to participate is often limited by the patient’s geographical location. 

Remote monitoring makes it possible to quickly reach eligible study participants worldwide, as well as having the results of a more diverse group. And, of course, it can bring additional benefits to medical practice.

Artificial intelligence and decision making

The rise of 5G may support the growing number of transformational solutions based on artificial intelligence that will help to process and analyze large amounts of medical data – collected from different sources – to identify patterns that humans are unable or slow to find through manual processing. These robust data analyzes can be used to identify risk groups for specific diseases, allowing measures to be taken to combat them as soon as possible.