Turkcell conducted a remote robotic surgery between the Turkish ship TCG Anadolu and Kocaeli University, using a fifth-generation network and Network Slicing technology. The demonstration took place as part of the TEKNOFEST Mavi Vatan events hosted by the Gölcük Naval Shipyard Command, in an application demonstrating the possibility of delivering specialized medical expertise to remote locations through a dedicated connection.
During the procedure, high-quality images and audio from the Da Vinci robotic surgery system aboard the ship were captured and transmitted to doctors at Kocaeli University through Turkcell’s 5G network infrastructure and 5G Superbox devices. The doctors at the university were able to monitor the procedure in real time and provide immediate guidance to the doctor aboard the ship.
Connection Isolated from General Internet Traffic
The demonstration relied on creating a dedicated network slice for the healthcare sector, ensuring that connection quality would not be affected by general Internet traffic. According to Turkcell, this provided a high-speed, secure channel for transmitting video and audio, an essential element in medical applications that depend on real-time monitoring and continuous communication between medical teams.
In practice, this does not mean that the surgeons at the university operated the robot directly from their location. Rather, the procedure was performed by a doctor aboard the ship, who received direct support and consultation from remote specialists. According to the company’s description of the demonstration, this model combines the presence of a doctor qualified to operate the system on-site with the expertise of specialist doctors at another location.
What Does the Demonstration Add to Remote Care?
The application’s significance lies in testing medical communications in a maritime environment, where rapid access to specialists or advanced medical facilities may be more difficult than in fixed hospitals. It also demonstrates how network slicing can allocate independent communication resources to a sensitive application, rather than relying on a shared Internet connection whose quality may fluctuate.
Turkcell said that the system made TCG Anadolu the first military ship among Mediterranean countries to possess robotic surgery infrastructure. This result, as stated in the company’s announcement, remains linked to the scope of the demonstration and to its description of the infrastructure operated during the event.
A Second Demonstration Following the Healthcare Bridge Between Istanbul and Muş
The ship demonstration follows an application conducted by Turkcell in May, which, according to the company, enabled doctors from the Faculty of Medicine at Istanbul University to perform a procedure on a patient at Muş State Hospital, approximately 1,500 kilometers away. The two companies present the demonstrations as models for using 5G in remote medical consultations and procedures, with differences in the application environments between a hospital within the country and a military ship.
Ali Taha Koç, Turkcell’s general manager, said that the company had used network slicing for the first time on a live network in the healthcare sector, adding that its focus also includes data centers, cloud services, cybersecurity solutions, and artificial intelligence. He also pointed to the priority of increasing the share of local products, software, and solutions across the various layers of 5G networks.