Through a telemedicine pilot plan, a remote ultrasound demonstration was carried out in Peru using 5G technology. This which managed to connect a specialist in Lima, with a patient in Chiclayo, 772 km away.
The telemedicine pilot program was carried out thanks to the software and telecommunications infrastructure. The ultrasound demonstration aimed to demonstrate the potential of 5G technology in Peru. "The possibilities are endless and it is an opportunity for Peru and the industry to put the country one step ahead of the region by offering technology like this," said Ramiro Lafarga, CEO of Entel, the company responsible for the project.
This exercise connected Dr. Enrique Gil from the Delgado clinic in Lima with Dr. Carla Uriarte, who was in Chiclayo with the patient. Dr. Gil made movements through a joystick, to indicate to the professional in Chiclayo the indications to carry out the ultrasound. In this way, Dr. Uriarte, for her part, received the instructions through the vibrations of a glove with sensors, which was placed on her left hand.
The 5G technology used has a transfer speed from 10 to 100 times higher than 4G, in addition to using a 39 GHz millimeter band. “This is a spectrum and frequency width that was unimaginable until recently for wireless access networks, and that it can offer speeds in the order of Gbps in the case of final use, with latencies very close to Zero; being able to assign different levels of service according to the criticality of the application”, explained Víctor Cárdenas, business manager for Entel Peru.
The manager of the Lima clinic where this telecare procedure was carried out, Jaime Planas, acknowledged that the pandemic accelerated the adoption of technologies to provide solutions that improve medical care, monitoring, and patient treatment.
