Abstract
The need to have equitable access to quality healthcare is enshrined in the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which defines the developmental agenda of the UN for the next 15 years. In particular, the third SDG focuses on the need to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. In this paper, we build the case that 5G wireless technology, along with concomitant emerging technologies (such as IoT, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning), will transform global healthcare systems in the near future. Our optimism around 5G-enabled healthcare stems from a confluence of significant technical pushes that are already at play: apart from the availability of high-throughput low-latency wireless connectivity, other significant factors include the democratization of computing through cloud computing; the democratization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing (e.g., IBM Watson); and the commoditization of data through crowdsourcing and digital exhaust. These technologies together can finally crack a dysfunctional healthcare system that has largely been impervious to technological innovations. We highlight the persistent deficiencies of the current healthcare system and then demonstrate how the 5G-enabled healthcare revolution can fix these deficiencies. We also highlight open technical research challenges, and potential pitfalls, that may hinder the development of such a 5G-enabled health revolution.
Highlights
Good health has a constructive effect on all aspects of human life and social well-being including personal happiness, workforce productivity and economic growth
A case was made that healthcare investments make perfect economic sense since according to the Global Health 2035 report by the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health, every dollar invested in the healthcare of poor countries has a nine-fold or higher return
We show how 5G (and other concomitant technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)) has the potential to revamp a healthcare system struggling to cope with the burden of modern diseases and the challenge of scaling up to ever-increasing populations
Summary
Good health has a constructive effect on all aspects of human life and social well-being including personal happiness, workforce productivity and economic growth. Modern medicine is ripe with numerous success stories (such as the eradication of diseases such as smallpox, the invention of antibiotics and anaesthesia, the development of modern surgery and therapy techniques), the overall healthcare industry has been largely impervious to a technological revolution. This has been the case due to many reasons such as its highly regulated and policy-driven nature, as well as the unique nature of its value chain unlike other markets. Apart from highlighting the promise of 5G-enabled healthcare, this paper discusses various technological challenges and potential pitfalls that will accompany the efforts of developing 5G-enabled healthcare solutions.
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