5G: a revolution for healthcare tomorrow?
5G promises a step change in performance that will reshape digital services — and telemedicine in particular. A look at the four fields it touches.
5G is presented as a breakthrough technology opening new possibilities, particularly in how services are used. Its performance promises a broader range of digital services and applications.
That step change will affect healthcare, and telemedicine above all.
The four fields of telemedicine
There are four established fields in telemedicine today. Teleconsultation, available for several years, connects a health professional with a patient at a distance. The others cover expertise shared between practitioners, the remote monitoring of patients, and assistance given to a professional during an act.
What 5G changes is not the principle but the threshold: bandwidth and latency that make real-time imaging and assisted intervention practical rather than theoretical.