Guest speakers at a sideline discussion on the Internet of Medical Things at the Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia pose for a photo in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, on June 10 (COURTESY PHOTO)

When Bai Chunxue was first exposed to the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT) nearly a decade ago, as a doctor of respiratory medicine, he was troubled by the unsatisfactory feedback of patients about the experience of seeing a doctor. The complaints of patients include waiting too long to get a diagnosis. To better meet patients'needs, Bai, who works at the Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai, began to explore the application of IoT in medical treatment. 

Bai's vision was fulfilled as his research team makes initial progress on Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) facilities that can provide early diagnoses for patients. As he described at a sideline discussion of the Global Health Forum of Boao Forum for Asia held recently in east China's Shandong Province, the facilities can save people with minor illnesses from a trip to the hospital through remote monitoring and provide timely warnings for those likely to suffer from severe diseases.  

IoT is only one of the many technologies expected to help both doctors and patients. The Internet, 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) are all making medical treatment smarter and more accessible to the public.  

"Technologies will promote the sharing of information, boost innovation in medical treatment and make distribution of medical resources more balanced, which will in turn upgrade the healthcare industry," Zhang Wei, professor at the West China School of Medicine, told the forum. 

For China, with an expanding middle-income group and aging population, technology-based healthcare services have grown in demand.  

Rosy vision 

On March 16, Ling Zhipei, a doctor at a Beijing hospital conducted China's first 5G-based remote surgery lasting three hours on a patient suffering from Parkinson's disease. Through remote control of robots, the brain surgery was completed successfully with technological support from the country’s largest telecom carrier China Mobile and technology giant Huawei. 

According to Zhao Jie, an official with the Chinese Health Information Association, the low latency, large bandwidth and high speed of 5G-based Internet transmission can meet rising demands for smart medical treatment and revolutionize the industry. "5G is 100 times faster than 4G. The time gap (between surgeons and experts in another place) in 5G-based surgery can be reduced to two milliseconds, which is next to nothing," he said. 

As Zhao highlighted, effective 5G transmission of information has made long-distance diagnoses possible and medical treatment more accessible and affordable. Patients in lower-tier hospitals can now also enjoy top-level medical treatment. 

Earlier this year, doctors in Shenzhen People's Hospital in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, completed a complicated hepatic operation with online guidance from an expert based in Beijing, thanks to a high-definition 5G-based live stream. Otherwise, the surgery would have been too difficult for the doctors to carry out. 

5G technologies will allow real-time transmission of patients'information without the need for monitoring facilities, remote ward rounds with robots, and quick searches of patients' medical records to better provide emergency treatment, Zhao said.  

China issued 5G commercial licenses on June 6. As the wireless technology sees wider application, smart medical treatment is expected to maintain strong growth momentum. According to Dai Zhong, General Manager of China Mobile Group's Government-Enterprise Customer Branch, the company has provided smart medical services for 150 million patients and covered 50,000 medical institutions across the country. It plans to expand its 5G network to 40 domestic cities this year.  

AI has also been increasingly adopted to assist medical treatment. Diagnoses based on big data and AI can help doctors develop optimal plans and make patient health prognoses to decide whether surgery is necessary, reducing the rate of disability or death, Zhang said. 

In his view, the focus of modern medical treatment is shifting from treating diseases to monitoring people's health and providing early diagnoses through technologies. To render better healthcare services to the public, treatment of chronic diseases and elderly care need greater focus.   

A report recently issued by Peking Union Medical College and the Chinese Aging Well Association showed that the burden of chronic non-communicable diseases in China will rise by at least 40 percent by 2030 compared to 2012. Meanwhile, China will be an aged society with more than 14 percent of the total population aged 65 and older by 2026. 

According to Zhang, to better treat chronic diseases and provide more sophisticated elderly care, IoMT devices such as wearable devices and sensors need to be improved to monitor people' health in a real-time and accurate manner.  

"IoMT will allow patients to be treated before they get worse and free them from the burden of high medical expenses, which can help improve people’s well-being," Bai said.