Hospitals are turning to private 5G networks to help drive more precise surgeries, The Wall Street Journal reported.
For instance, Seoul, South Korea-based Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital deployed this type of network to facilitate an augmented reality technology that assists surgeons, according to the April 23 story. A tablet is placed above the patient's chest, showing the exact locations of tumors and tissues.
"The AR technology acts like a navigation app for surgeries," Lee Jun-woo, MD, a breast-endocrine surgeon and oncologist at the hospital, told the Journal. "It's much easier to get to your destination when you have a digital guide."
Private 5G networks have faster speeds, lower latency and more security, the newspaper reported. They may eventually be used for remote surgeries in which surgeons perform procedures on patients who they're not even in the same room with.
Cleveland Clinic recently partnered with Verizon to bring a private 5G network to its Mentor (Ohio) Hospital.