"The launch of the private 5G network allows our hospital to take a historic step towards further increasing the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare provision. Thanks to the connection to the hospital information system, we can quickly and reliably share important data. The doctor and nurse immediately have all the current information available directly at the patient's bedside – for example, the doctor is able to immediately adjust the medication in real time," describes plk. gšt. MUDr. Petr Král, MBA, director of VN Brno, adding: "Innovative technologies are inevitably increasingly entering the daily operation of medical facilities and facilities. Therefore, modern healthcare must be open to progressive solutions that bring real benefits to patients and staff."
One of the first steps in making full use of 5G technology is connecting a system of mobile medical carts and laptops to a private network. Medical staff thus gain immediate access to patient data, medication and medical documentation anytime and anywhere within the premises, without interruptions and delays. The result is higher comfort for doctors and nurses, greater safety and speed of work, which is positively reflected in the quality of patient care.
For T-Mobile, which supplied the private 5G network to the hospital and is further developing it, this is a milestone on several levels. "We are proud to be a partner of the first project of this type in healthcare in the Czech Republic. Our private 5G network has already proven itself during testing and now forms the backbone of a reliable and secure connection and a secure connection to the hospital information system. During a recent telesurgical procedure, it also showed significantly higher smoothness of image transmission compared to satellite communication. Currently, in addition, it is possible to use 3D images in 4K resolution with parallel sound transmission, which brings doctors further new opportunities," says Ing. Jakub Kopecký, Director for Industry 4.0 at T-Mobile, which implements this transmission in cooperation with Smart Informatics.
The press conference also featured a demonstration of the successful second phase of the telemedicine experiment between the Brno Military Hospital and the Central Military Hospital (ÚVN) in Prague. During inguinal hernia surgery, they tested new options using a private 5G network. "During the procedure, we were able to remotely accurately mark the critical places in the operating field that the surgeon should focus on at a given moment, using a special tool connected via a 5G network, which significantly increased safety and certainty for the operating team. It is a technology that can fundamentally change the form of remote surgeries and surgical practice itself in the future," explains plk. gšt. MUDr. Václav Masopust, Ph.D., MBA, LL.M., DBA, director of the Central Military Hospital in Prague and head of the telesurgery team.
What is a 5G SA network?
A private 5G network is a special wireless network that a company or, as in this case, a hospital, uses only for its own needs and does not depend on publicly available mobile networks. It works similarly to dedicated and extremely fast Wi-Fi, but it can reliably connect up to hundreds of devices that communicate with each other securely and quickly. In the case of use in a medical facility, this means, for example, that all information and data remain only inside the hospital, which brings maximum security for patients and staff. Such a network enables the fast and, above all, safe operation of digital technologies and greatly facilitates the work of doctors and nurses.