---
title: "Doctor Directs World’s First 5G-Powered Surgery"
description: "## The Next G"
date: "2019-02-28"
modified: "2019-02-28"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/5g-powered-surgery-worlds-first"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "5G"
  - "remote surgery"
  - "robot surgeon"
  - "the digest"
---

# Doctor Directs World’s First 5G-Powered Surgery

![For the first time, a doctor remotely advised a surgery team via a 5G connection, which delivered his instructions in near real-time.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/5g-powered-surgery-worlds-first.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Debora Alves/Tag Hartman-Simkin\</em\>*

## The Next G

Attendees at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona witnessed a world's first on Wednesday.

While [on stage](<https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/27/tech/5g-surgery-mobile-world-congress/index.html>) during the annual showcase of mobile tech, doctor Antonio de Lacy remotely guided a surgical team at a hospital three miles away through an operation.

[Surgical telementoring](<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5107399/>) is nothing new, but what was different about this operation was the fact that de Lacy sent his instructions over a 5G connection, which allowed them to arrive in almost real-time — an important milestone along the path to remotely controlled robot surgeons.

## Laggosaurus Wrecks

5G is the technology behind the next generation of wireless networks, and it's expected to provide the world with lightning-fast connectivity.

According to a [story](<https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/doctor-performs-first-5g-surgery-step-towards-robotics-dream-doc-1dx7ou1>) by *AFP*, a 4G wireless network, the kind currently used in most developed nations, has a lag time of .27 seconds, while the 5G connection de Lacy used had a latency period of just .01 seconds.

"I am drawing with my hand on this screen, and at the same time on their screen," de Lacy said during the demo, as [reported by *CNN*](<https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/27/tech/5g-surgery-mobile-world-congress/index.html>). "Before 5G, we had to freeze the image to draw, but the surgeon is moving on and that is not ideal."

https://youtu.be/Uhu5aoc7DDk

## Dr. Robot

Ideal or not, a 4G network could suffice for a situation like the one de Lacy demonstrated at MWC: an expert in one place guiding surgeons in another.

However, it just won't do if we want experts to be able to [remotely control robot surgeons](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFR61jjL1vo>) — a capability that would eliminate many of the [geographical and logistical barriers](<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6067812/>) currently preventing some patients from getting the surgeries they need.

"This is a first step to achieve our dream," said de Lacy after the demo, "which is to make remote operations in the near future."

**READ MORE:** [Doctor Performs First 5G Surgery in Step Towards Robotics 'Dream'](<https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/doctor-performs-first-5g-surgery-step-towards-robotics-dream-doc-1dx7ou1>) \[*AFP*\]

**More on 5G:** *There’s More to 5G Than You Think. Here’s How Our Networks Have Evolved.*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)