For several months now, we have been sharing with TIM, the Italian telephony giant, the principle behind Optip, the e-health technology based on holopresence which promises to bring ever faster healthcare within the reach of all patients. Tim has in fact included Optip among the best practices in the telemedicine sector, involving our team in trialing the 5G network in Bari for telementoring – that is, carrying out remote consultations in which the surgeon in the operating theater and an external expert share holograms and other content in Mixed Reality.
Bari, and nearby Matera, will have complete 5G coverage within the year; the so-called “fifth generation” of mobile networks, will open up an extraordinary series of services to citizens, from public safety to environmental monitoring, to health. And the Ministry of Economic Development has chosen to test such services through a specific tender, won by TIM in partnership with Fastweb and Huawei. They have set up the BariMatera5G project, together with research institutes and private companies in the Puglia and Lucano areas, beginning by running tests on infrastructure and services.
The inspection carried out in November 2018 by the MISE technicians who tested the Optip technology
In short, thanks to 5G’s markedly increased speed and better network quality, what was done at the San Camillo Forlanini hospital in Rome with Optip could soon be replicated in different health organizations throughout the country. As well as actually operating, experienced surgeons will be able to follow other teams in holopresence, while product specialists will be able to guide health professionals in the use of medical devices, without needing to be physically present.
As demonstrated at San Camillo, the synergy between the HoloLens viewers and the other components of Optip makes a variety of things possible: constant dialogue between the operators; the simultaneous viewing of the surgical field; and the exchange of information such as preoperative analyses and diagnostic examinations; all visible as geo-referenced holograms superimposed on the real environment in which the operators are working.
These initiatives will greatly improve the quality of care provided, and therefore the patient’s prospects. And TIM has chosen to put its trust in them, involving Optip in a great revolution that’s starting from the South.
