First Ever 5G Surgery Done At The Mobile World Congress 2019

On Feb 27th, the MWC in Barcelona saw the first-time-in-the-world event, 5G surgery done remotely.

While in front of the audiences amid the yearly biggest mobile technology conference, Spanish doctor Antonio M. de Lacy directed a surgery in a hospital 3 miles away remotely through a 5G connection, which allowed them to communicate near-instantly. While telementoring in surgery is not something new, this is still a breakthrough, opening up a world for remote-control surgery operated by robots.

Presently, 5G is the name for the up and coming age of wireless connections, and it's relied upon to give the world exceptionally fast and nearly instant connectivity.

As per AFP, the 4G connection, which is now widely used in most developed countries, still has a lag time counted as 0.27 seconds, but the 5G connection utilized by the Spanish doctor only transmitted in 0.1 seconds late.

As shown by Dr. Lacy in the conference, he could draw the directions on his screen and the information was transmitted nearly instant to the surgeon team's screen in the operating room, which was really crucial because, before the application of 5G, they had to freeze the screen so that the instructor could give out directions while the surgeons were still moving on. Dr. Lacy said that was not "ideal."

One problem with the 4G connection is that while it may still be sufficient enough for surgeries in which a specialist guides a team of human surgeons far away, it is certainly not enough when it comes to controlling robot surgeons, a technology which experts are putting a lot of hope into. Remote controlled robot surgeons are ideal for situations in which distance and logistics become obstacles for operations.

Lately, Chinese researchers have successfully operated a surgery using a remote-controlled robot on a laboratory animal. Video courtesy of the South China Morning Post: