Bharti Airtel, Apollo Hospitals conduct India’s first 5G-driven colonoscopy

Bharti Airtel and Apollo Hospitals on Thursday said they conducted India’s first 5G-driven, artificial intelligence (AI)-guided colonoscopy trials in collaboration with technology companies HealthNet Global, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Avesha. “The trial was conducted using AI on Airtel’s 5G technology with ultra-low latency and high processing capabilities that resulted in the detection of colon cancer much faster and with greater accuracy,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement. As per current protocol, colon cancer is detected through a colonoscopy procedure which is manual, requires great attention for accuracy and is time-consuming, taking 30-40 minutes per case. The AI-guided colonoscopy procedure helped in image processing in real-time, said Bharti Airtel. This technology enables an “extra pair of eyes” for physicians and improves the detection rate of polyps which can vastly improve patient care and save lives, said the telecom operator. The data was processed by Avesha edge inferencing applications on AWS platforms in real-time which ensured analysis closer to the endpoints. AI-assisted Colonoscopy Polyp Detection trial will help doctors improve quality of patient care and accuracy of detection rates by capturing data correctly and reducing errors. The telco said 5G, edge computing and AI can significantly improve patient outcomes by assisting in proper and timely diagnoses.