Alissa Jell1, Thomas Vogel1, Daniel Ostler2, Nils Marahrens2, Dirk Wilhelm1, Nicole Samm1, Josef Eichinger3, Walter Weigel3, Hubertus Feussner1, Helmut Friess4, Michael Kranzfelder1. 1. Department of Surgery, Research Group Minimally Invasive Interdisciplinary Therapeutical Intervention (MITI), Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany, Department of Surgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany. 2. Department of Surgery, Research Group Minimally Invasive Interdisciplinary Therapeutical Intervention (MITI), Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich (TUM) , Munich, Germany. 3. Huawei Technologies Düsseldorf GmbH, European Research Center, Munich, Germany. 4. Germany, Department of Surgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: 5th generation cellular mobile communications (5G) is one of the main requirements for the digital future. The new standard will offer high bandwidths (10GB/s), low latency (<1ms), and a high quality of service. It is not yet known whether 5G performance is sufficient for demanding eHealth applications (e.g., telemedicine). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We evaluated 5G performance in two different medical applications (person/asset track & tracing and video data transmission for telesurgery) to appraise the impact of this new technology. In addition, a Delphi study was conducted evaluating the expectations and acceptance of 5G in the medical field in general. RESULTS: Delphi study revealed that 5G has great potential for the future information transfer in the healthcare domain, and an increase of research activities for 5G applications in hospitals is needed. Clinical evaluation proved technical feasibility and accuracy of the 5G track & trace prototype solution. For the telepresence use case, the video stream data rate varied between 900KB-1MB/s (7.2-8 Mb/s). The data rate of the robotic control command varied between 2.4-7.2KB/s (19.2-57.6Kb/s). Delay time (latency) ranged between 2-60ms depending on the transmitted data packet length. Seventy-five percent of data packets were processed after 30ms. CONCLUSION: 5G data transmission volume, rate, and latency met the requirements for real-time track & trace and telemedicine applications. Especially for the latter, 5G data transmission offers a high potential and further research should be carried out.
INTRODUCTION: 5th generation cellular mobile communications (5G) is one of the main requirements for the digital future. The new standard will offer high bandwidths (10GB/s), low latency (<1ms), and a high quality of service. It is not yet known whether 5G performance is sufficient for demanding eHealth applications (e.g., telemedicine). MATERIAL AND METHODS: We evaluated 5G performance in two different medical applications (person/asset track & tracing and video data transmission for telesurgery) to appraise the impact of this new technology. In addition, a Delphi study was conducted evaluating the expectations and acceptance of 5G in the medical field in general. RESULTS: Delphi study revealed that 5G has great potential for the future information transfer in the healthcare domain, and an increase of research activities for 5G applications in hospitals is needed. Clinical evaluation proved technical feasibility and accuracy of the 5G track & trace prototype solution. For the telepresence use case, the video stream data rate varied between 900KB-1MB/s (7.2-8 Mb/s). The data rate of the robotic control command varied between 2.4-7.2KB/s (19.2-57.6Kb/s). Delay time (latency) ranged between 2-60ms depending on the transmitted data packet length. Seventy-five percent of data packets were processed after 30ms. CONCLUSION: 5G data transmission volume, rate, and latency met the requirements for real-time track & trace and telemedicine applications. Especially for the latter, 5G data transmission offers a high potential and further research should be carried out.
Authors: Maximilian Berlet; Thomas Vogel; Mohamed Gharba; Joseph Eichinger; Egon Schulz; Helmut Friess; Dirk Wilhelm; Daniel Ostler; Michael Kranzfelder Journal: JMIR Form Res Date: 2022-05-26