5G-FORUM

5G Flexible OR Use & Monitoring

Project description
The 5G-FORUM project investigates the potential of 5G technology for modular, intraoperative and real-time communication in the operating theatre and will subsequently implement demonstrators in France and Germany. For this purpose, the commercial SDC (Service-oriented Device Connectivity) library "sdcX" of SurgiTAIX AG will be extended to realise wireless real-time communication via 5G and TSN (Time-sensitive networking). In order to standardise the description of real-time requirements in SDC, the standardisation process of these requirements is initiated in the form of so-called device profiles. A device profile specifies how a device must be modelled in the network and defines the semantic nomenclature for this application, which enables manufacturer-independent interoperability. Device profiles are to be defined for real-time, 5G and robotic applications and communicated to the IG-NB and OR.NET e. V. working groups. The Chair of Medical Technology at RWTH Aachen University (medi-TEC) is investigating the potential of modular, intraoperative and real-time communication using a neurosurgical use case. The core of the demonstrator is a navigated surgical system that must transmit data via 5G with high reliability and low latency, as well as a 3D tracking camera that records the position of surgical tools and transmits them in real time to a planning software. In a further step, this use case will be extended to robotic and teleoperative surgery, where the tracking data will be used to control a robotic end effector. The results and approach regarding 5G medical product development will be considered holistically for the first time and directly incorporated into the SDC supplementary standards.

Consortium
Germany: SurgiTAIX AG (lead), Lehrstuhl für Medizintechnik an der RWTH Aachen, Klinik für Neurochirurgie (Universitätsklinikum Aachen AöR)
France: Haventure (lead), AMA research and development, eCential Robotics

Themes
5G, open RAN, operating theatre, Medical, diagnostic, health economy

Duration
January 2022 – December 2024

Budget
Total funds: 1.6 m. EUR
Funding amount: 1.1 m. EUR