Operating theatre spectacle

No technical data regarding the application or 5G latency was given and medical indications were minimal, however, despite this, the first direct surgical operation using 5G technology was certainly a spectacle comparable (in rhythm, staging and grandiloquence) to the mobile presentations taking place at the Mobile World Capital. Most importantly, the show was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Remote 5G Surgery project promoted by the Hospital Clínic, Mobile World Capital Barcelona and Vodafone. So much so, in fact, that they are planning to go one step further next year and use robots.

Dr. Antonio de Lacy, head of gastrointestinal surgery and the project’s main instigator, presented the event, and performed just as excellently on stage as he does in the operating theatre. Despite the repeated warnings that the images may disturb people (“Don’t sit in the front rows, it’ll spill,” joked a communications director) the live clips showing the operating room were short and, at the express request of the GSMA, no full-screen images of the intervention were shown. The Clínic to MWC link certainly seemed fluid and high definition and De Lacy proved he could give accurate instructions while the medical team extracted part of the tumor patient’s large intestine. “All the nerves are in this area, you have to avoid touching it because this could have side effects for retention and sexual capacity” said the doctor, while he marked part of the area in which they were intervening on a tablet and this simultaneously appeared on a large screen at the Optimus operating theatre.