Huawei recently worked with China Mobile to help a hospital in China successfully implement the first 5G-based remote surgery – the implant of a neurostimulator in deep brain stimulation for a patient with Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Ling Zhipei, a chief physician specializing in neurosurgery and based in Hainan for this operation, remotely operated surgical instruments to implant a stimulator into the body of a patient who was in Beijing over 3,000 kilometers away. Remote surgery was made possible thanks to Huawei’s CloudLink 4K video conferencing terminal, which transmitted ultra-HD surgery images in real time through the 5G network co-deployed by China Mobile and Huawei.

Remote surgery was just a thought idea a few years ago, but the advances in 5G technology have impacted the medical community, meaning telemedicine goes beyond simple medical observation and guidance.

The complexities of brain surgery are already stated in fact. Patients rely on doctors, who in turn must utilize experience and training to perform these operations within a minuscule margin of error. During the surgery, mechanical arm operations and onsite images require a challengingly low network delay. In addition, the offsite surgeon needs ultra-HD surgery images, meaning conventional 1080p HD is insufficient.

Remote surgery operations cannot become a reality without 5G. Because a 5G network features high speed, large bandwidth, and low delay, it is perfectly suited to ensure the real-time performance, stability, reliability, and safety of remote surgery. The CloudLink 4K video conferencing terminal transmits real-time images with ultra-HD, high-fidelity, and ultra-low delay, providing offsite practitioners very accurate information. 5G and the CloudLink 4K terminal together safeguarded this remote surgery.

In 2018, Huawei Enterprise Communications launched next-generation CloudLink collaborative telepresence products, upgrading video conferencing terminals to 4K, AI, and integrated collaboration. The next-generation terminals help enterprises build a digital workplace and a smarter way of working. One of the first to transform the industry’s production model, Huawei hopes this 5G-based remote surgery will become the benchmark for all products in the industry.

In the future, enterprise communications, especially video conferencing solutions, will be provided for customers more in the form of cloud services. 5G networks will work as a catalyst for this change. Huawei Enterprise Communications will continue to explore excellency to application practices in a wide variety of industries. At Huawei, we aim to make 5G networks better serve customers and benefit all people.

Source: Huawei Enterprise Blog
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