Emory Healthcare, Verizon open first 5G-enabled innovation hub

Emory Healthcare in Atlanta now has the nation's first 5G-enabled healthcare lab.

The health system is collaborating with Verizon to develop and test 5G Ultra Wideband-enabled medical use cases at its Emory Healthcare Innovation Hub.

It comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announcement earlier this month that it would launch the first 5G-enabled hospital. The VA's Palo Alto Health Care System, which is an affiliate of Stanford University School of Medicine, also worked with Verizon to bring 5G technology online.

Emory's healthcare hub will test how 5G could enhance augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) applications for medical training, enable telemedicine and remote patient monitoring and provide point-of-care diagnostic and imaging systems from the ambulance to the ER. 

With 5G, doctors should be able to perform tasks like creating holographic 3D anatomical renderings that can be studied from every angle and even projected onto the body in the operating room to help guide surgery, said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon Business Group.

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The 5G network's larger bandwidth, faster speeds, and ultra-low latency have the potential to help redefine patient care with real-time data analytics, giving researchers the ability to explore solutions such as connected ambulances, remote physical therapy, and next-generation medical imaging, according to Verizon.

Speed to data is critical to the digital evolution of health," Scott Boden, MD, vice president for business innovation for Emory Healthcare, said in a statement.

"The healthcare industry, driven by value-based care and increased consumerization, is set for a paradigm shift that will put a much greater focus on connectivity and access to data,” Boden said. 

The Emory Healthcare Innovation Hub was set up in 2018 to improve patient care and provider experience by using cutting-edge health technology. The hub came about from a partnership between Emory Healthcare and Sharecare to use a demand-driven innovation approached developed with 11ITEN Innovations Partners to identify technology improvements with a focus on the end-user while having an impact on cost, quality, and patient outcomes.

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The innovation hub works with nine strategic partners to focus on precision medicine, genetics, trauma/emergency medicine, orthopedics, obesity, and rural access to care through telehealth.

As part of the collaboration, Verizon will offer network and security services, project management, professional consulting services, and managed infrastructure and sit on the Emory Hub Executive Advisory Board.

Verizon operates five 5G Labs in the U.S. and one 5G Lab in London. The Emory Healthcare Innovation Lab is the first 5G lab Verizon has set up on-premises for a customer, and it will be part of an ongoing initiative to co-develop 5G-related use cases.