Transforming Healthcare with Big Data, 5G and Surgical Robots

The healthcare sector in recent times has witnessed more technological innovations such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Robotic Surgery, among others. As, in one side, big data is very significant in the healthcare and enabling patient information more shareable safely and precisely, on the other hand, robots are assisting medical personnel by discharging from routine tasks, making medical procedures safer and less costly for patients.

With the help of big data, a huge amount of information can be stored systematically. Today, doctors and other healthcare practitioners can make informed decisions because they have access to a wide range of data. Conversely, AI is now increasingly helping to improve robot-assisted surgery. The technology is already being utilized to identify diseases more precisely and in their early stages, such as cancer.

AI-Assisted Surgical Robots

Robotic surgery is now real and very soon robo-doctors will take charge and outpace the medical professionals by integrating all the available knowledge in all medical repositories. Robots have the potential to alter the end of life care, assisting people to remain independent for longer, lessening the need for hospitalization and care shelters.

Robot surgeons could soon use AI and healthcare data, like medical imaging or X-rays, to automatically diagnose patients without a physician. Already, AI-assisted robots are helping surgeons with microsurgery. Researchers at the Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, for example, used an AI-assisted robot to suture microscopically small blood vessels — some as small as .03 millimetres across.

Telemedicine and Remote Patient Care with 5G

Telemedicine continues to shift from the edge of healthcare to the mainstream. And with 5G wireless networking, it is becoming possible now. Telemedicine in such conditions when patients need immediate care but no doctor is available can be a life-saver. In rural areas, its significance is more notable, saving more lives. While telemedicine and remote patient monitoring require networks to support real-time, high-quality video and audio, 5G promises to improve network speeds to nearly 20 times faster than 4G.

In many cases, 4G speeds are not enough to support telemedicine as connection speeds limit to wired access, making it less beneficial in rural areas with undersized internet infrastructure. 5G network is also likely to expand the reach of online programs, enabling patients for quicker access to doctors, or the ability to talk to specialists.

Big Data Management for Healthcare

Previously, the vast amount of healthcare data was stored as hard copy and they have the capability to support a wide array of care facilities and medical functions. But moving towards digitization has given to the birth of big data technology in the healthcare industry. In the past few years, big data technology has been widely adopted in healthcare centers and clinics globally. However, as big data helps in storing huge volumes of data systematically, privacy concerns also become a more significant threat.

These concerns slowed down the adoption of mobile and digital tools to manage client data. With the fear of being breached, several healthcare providers now rely on third-party software. But still, there have been relatively few healthcare data breaches, impelling the potential risks. Better data management here can aid caregivers and healthcare systems to avoid such threats and improve patient care efficiently.