Zerintia develops the software that enables the first remote assisted surgery with 5G technology at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019.
A team of surgeons and anesthetists performed a surgical intervention in the colon of a patient at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, assisted remotely by an expert surgeon thanks to Zerintia`s software 4REMOTE and Vodafone’s 5G mobile technology.
The expert surgeon, who was at the Fira in l’Hospitalet de Llobregat, where the Mobile was held, marked on his tablet the cutting areas indicating the precise place to act, on moving images obtained through the laparoscopic camera. At the same time, the image was displayed by the team of surgeons in the operating room on a screen next to the operating table.
Although the use of videoconferencing in surgery is already an extended method to support complex operations or training, current technologies goes a step further, allowing remote interaction and sharing information in real time. Zerintia’s software 4REMOTE allows the expert surgeon to add drawings or mark on video that are visualized in real time by the surgeons of the operating room.
Until now, the possibility of using this technology was limited, because the data transmission speed of the 4G network has a small latency (time it takes the data to get from one server to another and time that the other end takes in manage them). The low latency presented by communications with 5G has allowed the operation to be transmitted in real time, without delays, which is key to make decisions in the operating room.
The experience carried out at Mobile has been the first operation using 5G technology internationally, after some failed experiments elsewhere in Europe and the United States.
Every year in the world there are millions of operations that cannot be carried out due to the lack of specific knowledge of the local medical team in charge of the patient: Novel surgeries, surgeons operating in small general surgery centers that need support in some complex operation, advanced techniques that require experienced professionals or surgeons in remote places that have to face great challenges to take care for their patients with the greatest safety and professionalism.
4REMOTE avoids unnecessary travels and facilitates access to the best techniques and professionals regardless of the location of the operating room.
Zerintia’s commitment to health is present in many of its technological solutions, from remote assistance in surgery or remote consultations with medical specialists to the monitoring of patients through the use of wearables that trigger alerts or warnings to family members or care centers.
