An initiative of the Hospital das Clínicas innovation nucleus is under development at the Radiology Institute (InRad)
The Hospital das Clínicas, Faculty of Medicine, USP (HCFMUSP) announces a partnership with a diverse ecosystem of technology, telecommunications, government, university and financial institution to test 5G in healthcare. In an initiative of InovaHC, the innovation center of the largest hospital complex in Latin America, the OpenCare 5G project is coordinated by Deloitte and has the participation of Itaú Unibanco, Siemens Healthineers, NEC, Telecom Infra Project (TIP), Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development ( ABDI), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (Poli-USP).
The innovative partnership brings together actors who share the creation of technology-based solutions. With speed potential up to a hundred times greater than 4G, 5G expands data transmission capacity and reduces response time, which improves the quality of services and is essential in processes such as healthcare. In terms of engineering, the project will promote the construction of a Private Network in the Open RAN concept (Open Radio Access Networks), highly innovative, with few cases of implementation in the healthcare world. It is an open and unbundled technology that is intended to accelerate the deployment of 5G at lower costs than the traditional model used in the telecommunications industry.
Open RAN encourages the democratization of parts of the telecommunications network. By generating an open ecosystem of providers, it encourages innovation and accelerates development and market availability. The result is reduced costs and democratic access. Marco Bego, Director of Innovation at Hospital das Clínicas, highlights the innovative character of the project and the gains for society. Today, with 4G technology, little of that would be possible, due to the delay in sending data. "The goal is to test the Open RAN technology using real cases and analyze how 5G connectivity can help in different areas of medicine, helping to improve the patient journey and provide more access to health services."
Partners
In addition to creating an environment for 5G tests applicable in various health cases at the HC, it is also part of the scope to attract investors from the technology, telecommunications and pharmaceutical industries, promote research in medicine and engineering and foster the national technology ecosystem, by through the medtechs and healthtechs.
The world's largest professional services organization, Deloitte is coordinating the project. For Marcia Ogawa, lead partner of the Technology, Media and Telecom Industry at Deloitte, the project is of extreme social and economic relevance and essential for public health and the development of research and products in the area of connectivity. "The use of 5G in health promotes great positive impacts, ranging from attracting investments for the country and the development of new technologies to improving the quality of care, expanding access to the public network, de-hospitalization and a better flow for emergencies. This project takes on even more interesting contours as it is carried out inside Hospital das Clínicas, the largest hospital in Latin America”, emphasizes Marcia.
A leader in medical technology, Siemens Healthineers participates in the OpenCare 5G project with two solutions: the AI Rad Companion, which makes it possible to increase the productivity of exams, such as pre-reports of tomography and X-rays, magnetic resonance and radiotherapy, as time goes by image acquisition will be reduced with 5G, in addition to improving image quality for diagnosis; and syngo Virtual Cockpit (sVC), which remotely controls magnetic resonance and computed tomography equipment in real time and can benefit from the speed of 5G. “In the healthcare industry, we know that scalability and the good use of technology can impact many lives. We are honored to participate in this pioneering project and to be able to contribute with solutions that aim to improve access to quality healthcare in a country like Brazil, with continental dimensions,” says Armando Lopes, general director of the Image and Digitization area at Siemens Healthineers for Latin America.
“In the healthcare industry, we know that scalability and the good use of technology can impact many lives. We are honored to participate in this pioneering project and to be able to contribute with solutions that aim to improve access to quality healthcare in a country like Brazil, with continental dimensions,” says Armando Lopes, general director of the Image and Digitization area at Siemens Healthineers for Latin America.
Itaú Unibanco will partner in the initiative, providing its expertise in technology, as the first bank in Brazil to use Open RAN to provide the 5G connection that will enable the carrying out of pilot projects, allocating part of its data center. “We are happy to be part of a project that seeks to democratize and facilitate access to public health in Brazil. It is the first time that a Brazilian financial institution acts as an enabler of 5G technology in Brazil, in a partnership in which Itaú Unibanco is exclusively involved as a technology partner. We will use our infrastructure and experts to explore the possibilities that an innovative system such as Open RAN and the applicability of 5G technology offer, in a joint learning process that involves different partners who have different expertise, but a common goal: to make an impact positive social life in people's lives”, explains Fábio Napoli, technology director at Itaú Unibanco.
The Telecom Infra Project (TIP), another project partner, is a global community of companies and organizations – from service providers and technology partners to systems integrators – that are driving infrastructure solutions to advance global connectivity. Focused on the development, testing and implementation of open solutions to bring connectivity to places that do not have them today, TIP brings the technology aspect to the 5G project at the HC, providing the necessary equipment and expertise to implement the system that will be used, in this case, the Open RAN solution.
“The 5G private network takes the evolution of networks to the next level. Businesses see the potential to reap the benefits of 5G with dedicated infrastructure for an immersive user experience. TIP is providing a platform for all partners to incubate critical Inova healthcare use cases, expanding the community's relevance to enterprise verticals, opening the door to more use cases,” explains Sriram Subramanian, Global Integration and System Manager technical leader of TIP's 5G Private Network Solutions.
The performance of NEC will go through all phases of the project, considering that the company will act as the system integrator of the network layer, that is, installation, configuration and commissioning of the indoor 5G network in the environment of InovaHC and Data Center of Itaú Unibanco . With the expertise of a specialized team recognized worldwide in the orchestration of solutions, NEC has a key role in the context of this initiative, as it will lead the design and architecture of the network, in addition to performing the interface with all suppliers of equipment and software.
“The fact that the company is part of this initiative comes from its commitment to essential social values, such as the environment, society and people. In this context, the organization is working to connect individuals, through cutting-edge technology, in order to make possible actions that fundamentally contribute to our daily lives and to those who most lack access to communication networks and health", says Angelo Guerra, president of NEC in Brazil.
The Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development (ABDI) is part of the partnership with the mission to encourage the adoption of new technologies and new business models, in order to contribute to greater productivity in the industrial sector and competitiveness in the country. ABDI already works, together with the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), with tests for the use of 5G in private networks in the industrial, agribusiness and smart cities areas.
“Integrating this partnership in the health area is a satisfaction for ABDI. It is to combine our mission to test innovative solutions and invest in new business models with the desire to make the most of technologies in favor of improving people's quality of life. We are convinced that greater economic development must be supported by collective well-being”, says the president of ABDI, Igor Calvet.
National reference and considered the most complete engineering college in Latin America, the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (Poli-USP) also embarked on the project. With a vocation for scientific and technological research, the institution will be responsible for the system architecture and research methodology with a view to the future, aware of how technology will impact the development of new solutions.
“Testing 5G in health, a connectivity technology, is extremely important for its social impact. The quality of information for medicine is fundamental and with 5G it is possible to evolve because of latency, bandwidth and connectivity, reliability. Especially in a heterogeneous country like Brazil, telemedicine expands access, lowers the cost and saves lives”, says Moacyr Martucci Júnior, head professor at Poli-USP.
Tests
To test latency – the difference in response in data transmission – the project will pilot ultrasound and pre-report CT and chest X-rays, prostate and skull MRI scans, and radiotherapy. The 5G use cases in healthcare will be tested on the HC's premises within a period of up to six months, starting in January 2022.
With the tests under way, agents are studying ways to accelerate the development of this technology in order to democratize and facilitate public health processes in Brazil, with strong social and economic impacts. For Giovanni Guido Cerri, president of the Innovation Commission (InovaHC) at Hospital das Clínicas and president of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Radiology, the project will impact the entire healthcare chain, accelerating digitization, personalized medicine, improving access and reducing costs. “It will be an impetus for new investments in health and technology development, as well as improving access and reducing inequalities. It will also contribute to improving diagnostic quality and digital health.”
