They say it’s the first hospital in the Benelux region to have such a network and part of the government’s drive to promote 5G solutions across many sectors
az groeninge in Kortrijk and Proximus NXT are proposing a pilot project that involves testing 5G applications in a live hospital environment. The aim of building the network on the hospital campus is to prepares the health care sector for the future.
Belgium’s federal government has established a framework to award grants and encourage such ventures, calling for 5G pilot projects.
The expansion of a private 5G network on the hospital campus is in line with the government-backed H.E.A.L.T.H. project, which stands for High-speed Enabled Advanced Life-Saving 5G Technological Hospital.
The pilot’s aims
Proximus NXT and az groeninge are to test and implement 5G use cases in different domains. The hope is the knowledge and expertise stemming from this could form an exemplar for other hospitals.
Applications will focus on remote care and clinical communication, as well as data and training.
It will test the potential for robotic surgery, monitoring the condition of patients using biosensors and alerts for nurses and health care providers.
The project also supports applications that underpin medical imaging. For example, putting X-ray images into an AR/VR environment. It will also promote the exchange of knowledge by streaming operations for consumption by colleagues, trainee doctors and institutions.
The project includes training, such as how to deal with aggression and to better prepare health care staff for unforeseen situations. With the help of AI and machine learning on a private edge cloud infrastructure, the training sessions can gradually be refined and tailored to specific training needs.
Other partners in the project include VIVES University of Applied Sciences to support knowledge exchange, Mediventures to stream operations, Televic to provide alerts and One Bonsai to enable the virtual training environment.
H.E.A.L.T.H background
At the end of 2023, Belgium’s federal government selected the H.E.A.L.T.H project for funding, within the framework of a call for projects. This framework was initiated by Minister De Sutter and the Federal Public Servcie Economy to promote the roll-out and implementation of 5G in Belgium, and encourage digitisation for Belgian companies and citizens.
The focus is on supporting 5G test environments by funding pilot projects that pioneer solutions for different industrial sectors.
After an initial allocation round at the beginning of 2023, eight additional projects were selected in November, resulting in joint funding amount of around €5 million. The successful pilot projects were chosen on the basis of maturity, innovation, contribution to awareness of 5G, general sustainability and service improvement, as well as the use of AI and edge computing.
In addition to the H.E.A.L.T.H. project, another four Proximus NXT projects were allocated grants:
- Development of SafeAlert, a digital tool with subsidiary Be-Mobile which uses real-time traffic and route data for risk analyses, sending out alerts to improve road safety.
- Expansion of FacThory in Genk, a smart manufacturing campus that has ‘research infrastructure’ to facilitate the digitisation and automation of production processes.
- Providing digital tools for prisons to make guards’ working conditions more efficient and safer, and promote the reintegration of prisoners into society.
- Progress a remote navigation system, in collaboration with Seafar, to make maritime transport safer in an urban environment.