A doctor who was three miles away used 5G to instruct a team performing a surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from a patient’s colon.
In a report by CNN Tech, Dr. Antonio Maria de Lacy, during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona’s Fira Gran Via, showed to the packed auditorium a live surgery flashed in a monitor while mentoring the team performing the procedure via 5G technology.
Dr. De Lacy said while speaking in front of the audience: “If you cut these nerves, the patient will probably have urinary problems, sexual problems, many things.”
He later instructed his team while highlighting an area of the patient’s body via telestrator: “You need to maintain this area.”
Using 5G, Dr Antonio Maria de Lacy shows his team three and half miles away which area they need to avoid during a colon cancer surgery. Audience packed with tech geeks is stunned. #MWC2019 pic.twitter.com/2QvDGv2782
— Ivana Kottasová (@IvanaKottasova) February 27, 2019
Dr. De Lacy’s markings were also being seen by the team performing the surgery, saying: “I am drawing with my hand on this screen, and at the same time on their screen. Before 5G, we had to freeze the image to draw, but the surgeon is moving on and that is not ideal.”
General surgery resident Romina Pena who was one of the doctors performing the surgery said she appreciated Dr. De Lacy’s presence during the procedure.
“Regardless of the level of experience of any surgeon, guidance is always welcome,” said Pena.
The demonstration marks the first time doctors had used a 5G connection to communicate while performing a surgery.
(Photo source: edition.cnn.com/ Twitter – @IvanaKottasova)
