How 5G Technology is Beneficial for Healthcare Industry

 How 5G Technology is Beneficial for Healthcare Industry  

Introduction  

5G is generally seen as the fifth generation cellular network technology that provide broadband access. The industry association 3GPP defines any system using “5G NR” (5G New Radio) software as “5G”, a definition that came into general use by late 2018. This new era of 5G will bring together improved connectivity, cloud-based storage of medical data, and an array of connected medical devices and services. Extensive computing capability combined with virtual system architecture will open up a mobile internet of things (IoT). Advanced digital networks will bring together a system that connects billions of medical devices and sensors enabling advances in health care.  

Considering the above facts, Hospaccx team participates in ‘How 5G Technology is Beneficial for Healthcare Industry’. This is macroficial study of use of 5G Technology in Healthcare Industry’ if you want to get into more detail you can contact hospaccx.india@gmail.com 

5G: The New Era of Healthcare Industry  

The global 5G in healthcare market is expected to grow from $0.25 billion in 2021 to $0.40 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 59.64%. The 5G in healthcare market is expected to reach $2.88 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 63.90%. 5G widens the huge potential for healthcare stakeholders to restructure, transition to holistic data-driven individualized care, improve medical resource use, provide convenience in care delivery, and increase patient value. 

Four factors distinguish 5G from its predecessors: connected devices, fast and intelligent networks, back-end services, and extremely low latency. These qualities enable a fully connected and interactive world with a variety of applications. Part of the so-called ‘internet of medical things,’ they are used in operations of data transmission, wearable devices, telediagnosis, telemonitoring, telerobotic surgery, and others. They are used by healthcare providers, healthcare payers, and other end-users. These devices will provide never before seen telemedicine diagnosis and treatment services as well as high resolution video conferencing, all the while delivering quality care at affordable prices.   

These devices and capabilities generate better data and more precise analytics providing greater context for interpreting information. Some mission-critical medical functions require high reliability and availability with latency intervals that are down to a few milliseconds. 5G will make this possible and bring consistent, reliable user experiences to improve medical care. Today, there are a number of health applications that will benefit an array of industries that require high bandwidth and reliable connectivity, and these applications are part of the emerging 5G test cases. 

Connected medicine will help people get quality care through improvements in imaging, diagnostics, and treatment. Rather than having computing equipment that is disparate and separate, the 5G world will allow us to enter an era where real-time health services will become the norm rather than the exception. That will bring patients closer to a science fiction concept of digital integration than ever before.  

Impact of 5G on Healthcare Value Chain 

The benefits of 5G will be felt differently by each of the key participants in the Healthcare value chain: Providers, Payers and Pharmaceutical companies.  But on the whole, 5G networks hold out the promise of major improvements in efficiency and outcomes, positive results that ultimately feed through to Patients. 

The COVID – 19 Pandemic crisis exposed a flaw in the Operations of many Healthcare Providers including Hospitals and local authorities who were scrambling to figure out the Medical Equipment inventory to deal with the expected crush. But 5G could do more than just equipment tracking. The devices could also monitor vital variables such as bed occupancy levels, movement of Physicians, Nurses around the Hospital which could then be integrated to Hospitals EMR system. 5G could change the way of delivery of Medical Care. It could also provide an opportunity of remote Operations. Even 5G networked wearables can also be a boon for Healthcare payers since Payers have large Financial incentives to keep their individual Clients healthy and to catch Medical emergencies early, so they can be treated well before. 

Moreover, Clinical trials are largely dependent on data where 5G infrastructure may provide drug manufacturers with the incentive and opportunity to place IoT connected monitoring devices at their home, thereby reducing administrative overhead and processing costs.  

Impact of 5G on Medical Imaging  

Adding a high-speed 5G network to existing architectures can help quickly and reliably transport huge data of medical imaging files which can improve both access to care and the quality of care.  

One of the virtues of digital medicine is remote access to images and the ability to rapidly share information across geographic areas, therefore compressing time and distance. Using 5G, these transfers can be virtually instantaneous, allowing doctors to diagnose their patients faster and quickly provide comprehensive treatment. 5G can also facilitate robot-assisted remote imaging, which can be ground-breaking when treating patients suffering from highly infectious diseases like COVID-19. 

 This helps doctors gain access to much needed expertise and enables the health care system to overcome disparities based on geography, income, or class status. This is especially the case in regard to rural areas or underserved urban populations. Patients in these settings typically do not have access to the latest medical expertise. Through digital technology, however, they can gain the benefits of specialists who practice far away. That reduces health disparities and helps to bridge the urban/rural divide that exists in most countries. Patients don’t have to travel physically in order to get access to high quality medical assistance. 

Moreover, High-speed transmission of X-rays or CT scans enables patients to quickly obtain second or third opinions. For patients, this will expand the talent pool and bring highly responsive health expertise to small communities without much health infrastructure.  

Impact of 5G on Diagnostics 

The advancement in diagnostics is an important capability, as new applications will expand the use of monitoring devices and wearable medical equipment. For patients suffering from serious or chronic health issues such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or cancer, remote monitoring devices can track vital signs and glucose levels and electronically transmit this information to health care providers. Rather than wait for an emergency to happen, this equipment and immersive connectivity provides an early warning system that helps physicians detect possible problems and get medical care to patients in a proactive manner. This capability is being used today with existing 4G networks and devices, but what is unique to 5G is the facilitation of machine type communications which will help to expand monitoring and provide real-time analytics that can improve health outcomes.  

Impact of 5G on Telesurgery   

One of the most important aspects of 5G technology is that it enables telemedicine, and more specifically, telesurgery due to the very low latency that it can achieve. Telemedicine market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16.5 percent from 2017 to 2023. The growth is mainly due to the rise in demand in remote and/or rural areas as well as the uptake in 5G technology. In the future, the promise of 5G technology could also have an impact on robotics itself. Today’s surgical robots are large and heavy because they require great computational power to process graphics, vision from the robot’s cameras and movement. In addition to enabling telesurgery, 5G technology could also enable smaller surgical robots, which could greatly expand a remote surgeon’s capabilities.  

The 5G Impact on Medical Access, Quality & Cost   

Newly-emerging point-of-care testing (POCT) can save money by avoiding costly hospital visits. Rather than going to a large medical facility, patients can take advantage of mhealth technologies, digital platforms, or remote monitoring devices. These devices increase patient accessibility by making technologies available at bedside or in the home. Home health therapies represent a way to deliver quality care without patients having to travel great distances to hospitals or medical facilities. They can transmit medical information electronically and have distant doctors provide advice on diagnosis and treatment.  

5G in Baby Care 

Remote devices also are helpful for babies. There is clothing with respiratory sensors that monitor the baby’s body position, activity level and skin temperature. Parents can see all that data in an iOS/Android app or, potentially, a light-up smart mug that shows the baby’s respiratory patterns. Wearable devices help patients keep track of infant health and smart diapers track moisture levels and let parents know when diapers should be changed or whether sores are developing that could be problematic.  

5G Translator: Beneficial for Patients   

A patient whose first language is not English is often at a disadvantage in critical care situations, as they aren’t always able to articulate their health history or allergies. Additionally, patients may not fully understand their diagnosis or instructions for follow-up care. Many healthcare systems use language translators when providing care to help staff overcome language barriers. Today, language translators are typically centralized, which means that translators for less common languages may not be located at the hospital and patient care may be delayed. With 5G, translators can video conference with the patient and doctor using models at the network edge with low latency.   

Impact of 5G on an Artificial intelligence  

Many key healthcare functions are beginning to use artificial intelligence (AI) to determine potential diagnoses and decide on the best treatment plan for a specific patient. Additionally, AI can help predict which patients are more likely to have post-operative complications, allowing healthcare systems to provide early interventions when necessary. The large amounts of data needed for real-time rapid learning require ultra-reliable and high-bandwidth networks. Additionally, providers often need to access data from their mobile devices. By moving to 5G networks, healthcare organizations can use the AI tools they need to provide the best care possible from wherever they are in the hospital or clinic.  

The Privacy Challenge 

To realize the full potential of 5G networks, in Healthcare settings, network security and data privacy are paramount. Nothing is more sensitive than a Patient’s Medical Records. There are three prongs to a robust and effective cyber security and Privacy strategy for 5G networks use in Healthcare: – 

Zero Trust approach – There should be a robust security posture from end to end for all devices and software on a 5G network. All software must be constantly checked for vulnerabilities and malware. Permissions to view the most sensitive should be reserved.  

Universal Encryption – To minimize the risk of data being compromised or corrupted, telecom operators and other 5G participants should adopt strong encryption methods for traffic between endpoints and services. 

Orchestration by AI – Machine learning and AI should play big role in identifying and mitigating mutable cyber risks, providing high levels of automated intelligence to manage and root out security intrusions.  

Conclusion  

Worldwide use of 5G technology would be helpful to healthcare industry in many aspects such as medical imaging, diagnostics, medical data analytics, treatment etc. Medical information can be sent electronically & distant doctors can provide advice on diagnosis & treatment. Huge data of medical imaging file can be transferred from one place to other or data from rural areas can be sent to any hospital from urban area for further treatment or second opinion.  

Further, 5G technology is helpful for cardiac patients in keeping track of vital parameters of human body. The best feature of 5G technology is that it works on real-time-analysis unlike 3G or 4G. Field of telesurgery can grab a market with the use of 5G.  

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It is the superficial and macro level study for more details kindly contact Hospaccx Healthcare business consulting Pvt. ltd on  hospaccx.india@gmail.com or you can visit our website on www.hospaccxconsulting.com  

 

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