- World's First Application of 5G Technology in Medical
Practice
- Sync Cams Share Real-Time HD Video Footage of Surgery for
Teaching
- 5G Network Base Made Secure for Medical Service
Development
- Enterprise-Dedicated 5G Network Protects Private Medical Info
from Hacking
SEOUL, South Korea,
Jan. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- KT
Corporation (KRX: 030200; NYSE: KT), Korea's largest
telecommunications company, and the Samsung Medical Center (SMC)
announced last week that they have jointly developed an innovative,
5G-powered medical service as an initial step to establishing a 5G
smart hospital.
For the pilot project, KT built an enterprise-dedicated 5G
network at the SMC, created service environments in operating and
proton therapy rooms, and conducted a test operation. Based on the
project's outcome, the two parties plan to continue to develop
smart patient care and 5G-powered innovative medical practices and
improve hospital operational efficiency.
"KT, in partnership with the Samsung Medical Center, is
pioneering innovative medical services for the new 5G era," said
Park In-Young, Vice President of KT's ICT Convergence Business
Department. "We will continue to further refine 5G-powered medical
technology by applying VR and AR technologies for real-time
education."
The two partners have been applying 5G on site to create better
medical services since they signed a memorandum of understanding in
September 2019. These services
include digital diagnostic pathology, access to proton therapy
information, teaching surgery, an artificial intelligence-enabled
care for in-patients, and an autonomous robot for an operating
room.
Access to Digital Data and Video Footage
The 5G-powered digital pathological analysis conducted by SMC is
a world-first example of innovation using 5G technology for on-site
medical procedures.
In diagnostic pathology practiced up to now at one of Korea's
biggest hospitals, tissues taken from the patient during surgery
were treated for analysis and sent to pathologists in an adjacent
room. This required up to 20 minutes of walking back and forth,
making it difficult for pathologists to conduct on-site group
analyses.
Speedy and uninterrupted access to pathological data obtained
during surgery, which is critical in determining the conditions of
patients, is provided by a 5G network with ultra-high speed and
ultra-low latency. The network allows the Pathology Department to
gain access to materials, each containing about 4GB of data,
ensuring better medical services.
The network also provides speedy access to CT and MRI data on
proton therapy. The procedure required the pathologists to walk
about a kilometer to the proton therapy center to download the
files. Now, the 5G network enables them to access the files from
anywhere within the medical center.
Surgery Education Away from the Operating Room
Operating rooms are too crowded with surgeons, nurses and
medical equipment for medical students to observe closely.
Resolving the hurdle to effective teaching, KT has developed a
5G-assisted education program in cooperation with the Samsung
Medical Center.
The program enables surgeons in operating room to teach a large
group of medical trainees in a separate lecture room, using sync
cams on the 5G network. It provides voice and high-quality video
footage from the perspective of the surgeons in real time.
Robots for Operating Room Assistance; AI for In-Patient
Care
A delivery robot developed for operating rooms can remove
contaminated materials and other medical waste for disposal. The
autonomous robot can also bring in surgery supplies.
Robots for operating room assistance will reduce secondary and
tertiary infection which occurs through contact with medical waste
and save human resource costs in waste disposal. Moreover,
5G-enabled massive connectivity minimizes disruption and latency in
data exchange with robots and terminals.
Smart Care Giver is an innovative AI-assisted system of
in-patient care. It provides AI services on KT's GiGAGenie engine,
enabling patients to control their hospital room with a voice
command, and with their permission checking their medical
condition. Hence the medical staff can respond more efficiently to
patient emergencies.
5G-Powered Smart Hospital
Collaboration between KT and the Samsung Medical Center will
continue beyond the development of innovative medical service
during this year.
"Based on the verified new services, we will continue our
collaboration with KT to promote convenience for all of our
customers, including patients, medical staff and
visitors," said Professor Park
Seung-Woo, who is in charge of the smart hospital project at
the SMC.
MEDIA CONTACTS
For inquiries, please contact our
Global Media Relations Team at kt.gmrt@gmail.com
ABOUT KT CORPORATION (KRX: 030200; NYSE: KT)
KT Corporation, Korea's largest telecommunications service
provider, is leading the era of innovations in the world's most
connected country. The company is leading the fourth industrial
revolution with high speed wire/wireless network and new ICT
technology. KT launched the world's first nationwide commercial 5G
network on April 3, 2019, after
successfully showcasing the world's first trial 5G services at the
PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in February
2018. This is another milestone in KT's continuous efforts
to deliver essential products and services as it aspires to be the
number one ICT Company and People's Company.
For more information, please visit our English website at
https://corp.kt.com/eng/
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SOURCE KT Corp.