GE Healthcare has inaugurated its first ever 5G Innovation Lab, opening in Bengaluru, India this month. 

Through the lab, GE Healthcare hopes to disrupt traditional processes of patient diagnosis and care, using the high bandwidth and data speeds of 5G to streamline patient experience and accelerate innovation in the industry – particularly when it comes to remote care. Additionally, the health care provider is looking to bring greater and more accessible quality of care to those in rural or typically under-served areas. 

Located at the John F. Welch Technology Centre (JFWTC) Bengaluru, the lab is GE Healthcare’s largest research and development center outside of the U.S. The lab will offer a site to test novel technologies and products, including 5G-enabled precision health care. 5G-powered augmented and virtual reality will also be deployed to train hospital staff, allowing them to practice procedures in a simulation. The high-speed capabilities of 5G offer potential to enhance point-of-care services, offering improvements in remote health monitoring and diagnosis, as well as real-time remote image transmission and processing. Through 5G, patients and doctors can send higher resolution images and videos, helping specialists to analyze and identify ailments more rapidly. 

“The health care industry, driven by value-based patient care, is at a turning point that will put a greater emphasis on connectivity and accessibility,” said Jan Makela, president and CEO of imaging at GE Healthcare.

5G is pitched to be a significant driver of development in the health care industry, with India being a major market. According to GE Healthcare, 5G in the health care industry was valued at an estimated $215 million in 2021 and is projected to reach $3,667 million by 2026, a trend the company intends to be at the forefront of.

“This lab will play a pivotal role in helping us build an ecosystem to explore 5G-enabled use cases and leapfrog into the next generation of MedTech,” said Girish Raghavan, vice president of engineering at GE Healthcare.