An unprecedented experiment was conducted today at the Rennes University Hospital in partnership with AMA, b<>com Nokia, Orange, and Philips: Simulating a surgical procedure in a wireless operating room.
An unprecedented experiment
During an experiment carried out this morning in the TherA-Image room at the Rennes University Hospital, a "ghost” patient underwent a cardiac procedure performed by Erwan Donal (cardiologist) followed remotely from Athens by Dr. Alexandos Stefanidis. This operation was facilitated by the superimposition of ultrasound images and X-rays retransmitted thanks to 5G (at 26 GHz) through an augmented reality application, thus affording the medical and nursing team more comfort and efficiency during the operation.
"We have been working on 5G networks and beyond since our inception and as part of these Europe-wide experiments, we brought our 5G private network core solution called *Dome*. This first test phase was a success both at the technical level, with the conclusive implementation of a private 5G experimental network on the b<>com campus, and at the application level where medical teams were able to transmit medical images (ultrasound probe and connected glasses) remotely and without loss of quality," explains Mathieu Lagrange, Director of Networks and Security at b<>com.
The success of this 5G-enhanced surgery, carried out in partnership with AMA, Nokia, Orange, and Philips, has encouraged the teams at Rennes University Hospital and its partners to continue their experiments.
Ultrasound and X-ray signals are merged by the augmented reality application and transmitted over the 5G network
Trials are part of the European research project 5G-TOURS
Made possible by the advanced features of this next-generation network, these trials are part of the European research project 5G-TOURS, which is associated with the European Horizon 2020 program. One of the next technical challenges is to better adapt the various video streams to the capabilities offered by 5G, in order to obtain even better image quality.
More information in the press release.
Ericsson (Italie), Samsung (Royaume-Uni), Telecom Italia (Italie), Orange (France), Hellenic Telecommunications (Grèce), Nokia (France), Philips (Pays-Bas, France), RAI (Italie), Athens Airport (Grèce), Comune di Torino (Italie), CHU de Rennes (France), Ecole Ellinogermaniki Agogi (Grèce), Centre Meleton Asfaleias (Grèce), Atos (Espagne), Wings (Grèce), Expway (France), Real Wireless (Royaume-Uni), AMA (France), Sequans (France), Liveu (Israel), Acta (Grèce), b<>com (France), Université Carlos III de Madrid (Espagne), Université Politecnica de Valencia (Espagne), IIT (Italie).
