Bharti Airtel, the second-largest telecom operator in India, partnered with Apollo Hospitals to carry out the country's first 5G-driven, AI (artificial intelligence) guided Colonoscopy trials. 5G is going to aid the healthcare industry hugely. This trial in India, conducted successfully on Airtel's 5G NSA (non-standalone) network, is just proof of that. Airtel said that because of its powerful 5G network (low-latency and high processing capabilities), colon cancer was detected much faster and with greater accuracy too. Along with Apollo Hospitals, companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), HealthNet Global, and Avesha also collaborated with Airtel for this trial.
Airtel's 5G Network Enabled AI Guided Colonoscopy, Which Had Several Advantages
Currently, the colonoscopy procedure is relied upon to find colon cancer. It is a manual process which requires plenty of time and great attention. Not only is the procedure long, but it is also discomforting for the patients along with the nurses and the doctors, as the time taken to complete it can run up to 30 to 40 minutes.
However, with the AI-guided colonoscopy procedure, the image and processing happened in real-time without any lags, even when the physician moved the scope through the colon for it to be overlaid on top of the right element of the colon. Thus, the 5G-powered AI-guided colonoscopy can act as an extra pair of eyes for doctors, which can result in much higher accuracy, improving the healthcare standards in India.
Airtel said, "The data was processed by Avesha edge inferencing applications on AWS platforms in real-time, which ensured analysis closer to the endpoints."
Ajay Chitkara, CEO and Director, Airtel Business, said, “Ultra-fast, low latency 5G networks will transform the Healthcare sector in the country. At Airtel, we are geared up to lead this transformation and have demonstrated this by conducting India’s first colonoscopy trials. Healthcare is one of the most promising use cases for 5G, and we are delighted to collaborate Apollo Hospitals, AWS, HealthNet Global and Avesha.
