GE Healthcare on Thursday announced the launch of its 5G Innovation Lab in India, the first for the company across the globe.

With the advantage of massive bandwidth, high data speeds, low latency, and highly reliable connectivity, 5G has the potential to disrupt the patient care continuum, transforming diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis, the company noted.

“The 5G Innovation Lab is designed to position GE Healthcare at the forefront of these groundbreaking advances in patient care, including potentially bringing cutting-edge technology to rural and suburban regions,” a company statement said.

Situated at the John F.Welch Technology Centre (JFWTC) Bengaluru, GE Healthcare’s largest R&D center outside of the USA, the lab will serve as a testbed to develop future-ready products and solutions, turning a new corner in innovation, it said.

It houses state-of-the-art infrastructure, including a private 5G network for testing and development, PTI reported from Bengaluru.

It provides expertise as well as a platform for a collaborative ecosystem for academia, the healthcare industry, and startups, facilitating exploration and enabling validation and qualification of 5G-enabled ‘Precision Healthcare’ use cases, the statement said.

5G in Healthcare was valued at an estimated USD 215 million in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 3,667 million by 2026.

5G could act as a key catalyst for transforming the patient experience by enabling rapid collection and transmission of large data files and real-time, high-definition video, which can support quicker analytical insights and streamline clinical decision-making, according to the company.

“India is an important market for us globally and it is indeed the right time to venture into 5G, which will open a realm of exciting opportunities, driving the next wave of growth in Healthcare,” said Jan Makela, President & CEO, Imaging at GE Healthcare.

The GE Healthcare 5G Innovation Lab will serve as a conduit for the interplay of exponential technologies like AI/ML, IoT, Big Data, Edge Computing, and Cybersecurity, the statement added.