The Ilex team are always keeping up with what's happening in the tech sector and finding interesting stories to share from innovative companies in the industry. Read this case study to find out how the use of technology and 5G has enabled remote access to live surgeries across the world.
According to Think Global Health, 5 billion people lack access to even the most basic and safe surgical care, which represents one of the largest gaps in global healthcare.
Proximie is a technology platform combination of machine learning, artificial intelligence and augmented reality to allow clinicians to virtually ‘scrub in’ and collaborate with each other from anywhere in the world. This was created so that surgeons, who lack expertise in specialised surgeries, can be guided and supported by experienced colleagues from across the world without them having to be in the same operating room.
How it Started
In late 2016, Dr Nadine Hachach-Haram drew on her surgical experiences and her passion for innovation and education to become CEO and Founder of Proximie.
“I wanted to create a platform that could extend the reach of a surgeon’s expertise and make that skill timeless. A multi-sensory experience that was a catalyst for collaboration, and that could eventually digitise a surgeon’s footprint. We wanted to create the effect of a borderless operating room that could empower surgeons to remotely share knowledge that could ultimately reduce variation in care and help save lives.”
Proximie aims to revolutionise healthcare by making it more efficient, effective, affordable, and most importantly, accessible. By harnessing the power of 5G and technology, it is helping to solve the connectivity problems in healthcare.
Proximie’s platform is used all around the world, from small community hospitals to the most advanced surgical teaching hospitals. It is available on any device such as mobile, desktop and tablet, and was designed to function successfully even with low bandwidth.
What Does it Do?
Proximie enables clinicians to transport themselves virtually into operating rooms and hospitals anywhere in the world, so they can interact visually, engage and guide procedures.
Proximie’s innovative technology also creates an immersive, multi-dimensional experience and optimises collaboration. It enables participants to interact with what the surgeons see in the room. Their hands can be superimposed on the video feed of the patient’s anatomy to give precise directives during the operation, and they can overlay notes, sketches and anatomical diagrams for reference.
Surgeries are recorded and stored in a video library so you can go back and re-watch the surgery to learn, get feedback and evaluate performance.
Timeline
In 2016, Proximie was used to connect expert surgeons in the U.S. to clinical teams in Peru and El Salvador for cleft lip and palate repair surgeries on local children.
In 2019, The UK Ministry of Defence partnered with Proximie to ensure frontline soldiers had access to the best possible care.
In 2020, Proximie was used in 20% of all NHS hospitals during the pandemic, in order to limit physical numbers in operating rooms but increase clinical expertise. Proximie was operating in five continents and 35 countries.
What’s Next?
Proximie has an ambitious and extensive roadmap of next steps involving the expansion of connected surgical care continuum through pre, intra and post operation.
The CEO and Founder is striving to create Smart Operating Rooms (ORs) to scale expertise, upskill and drive workforce capability, and most importantly, give patients access to the best care in order to save lives.
This case study is just one example of how the tech and telecommunication industry is shaping the digital world of tomorrow. It also shows that we can expect amazing discoveries and new innovative technology to solve challenges that will inevitably appear as we continue on the digitalisation journey.
Read another case study here to find out how a Norwegian Farm faced the challenge of reducing methane emissions from slurry.