Health technology

Joint Base San Antonio Working on 5G-Enabled Telemedicine Tech

Officials at Joint Base San Antonio are developing 5G-enabled wireless technologies to support health care services for U.S. service members who are working in various locations around the world.

Among those being undertaken at the military installation is the use of augmented reality to improve medical training. Using AR allows trainees to experience what it is like to perform medical exercises by superimposing computer-generated elements over real-world scenarios. Some of the exercises that trainees can do using AR are readiness improvement, amputation drills and gunshot wounds treatment, Nextgov reported.

Dr. Paul Young, a 5G executive telemedicine investigator at Joint Base San Antonio, said 5G would be an essential resource to have for medics who operate in remote spaces. According to Young, the 5G-enabled telemedicine technologies that will be developed at JBSA should be “appropriate, secure, reliable and fast.” In 2020, JBSA was named an official testbed that would support the Department of Defense‘s 5G technology development. The base has been developing technologies designed to support medical treatments and training.

Joint Base San Antonio also set up a Medical Steering Committee or 5G telemedicine. The committee is responsible for helping the Pentagon with its medical 5G development efforts and for connecting medical components and stakeholders together to discuss plans, progress and other important developments in support of the DOD’s medical services. Young is responsible for developing the group and is currently the MSC’s chairperson.