Evaluation of 5G cellular and Wi-Fi 6 for cable-free surgical navigation using ISO/IEEE 11073 SDC

As clinics strive for optimal patient safety and surgical outcomes as well as efficient and cost-effective operation, operating rooms have been investigated for workflow disruptions, risks, and inefficiencies. Notably, medical device cabling and tubing has been identified to cause surgical staff to trip and fall or to take detours to avoid them. Wireless devices could alleviate cable-associated risks, but few of them exist in practice as it remains a technical challenge to provide wireless connectivity with the required responsiveness and reliability for demanding applications, such as surgical navigation.

Due to their promise of high reliability and low latency, private 5G networks have been proposed as enablers for wireless medical applications. In this work, the prototype of an interoperable tracking provider employing 5G-SA (stand-alone) and sixth-generation WLAN communications is evaluated regarding latency and reliability.

The performance using Wi-Fi is improved compared to the first-generation prototype, consistently reporting tracking events below 30/100 ms delay in the average/worst case, respectively. Using 5G-SA, the system can only operate at lower update rates, which causes outliers above 250 ms and experiences congestion as well as connection losses.

The latency results using Wi-Fi are improved compared to the previous generation and generally enable navigation as well as other hand-eye coordination-based tasks. However, the tested 5G system does not yet provide the necessary performance required for the surgical navigation task and requires further adjustments of the hardware and software.