How 6G and AI transform medicine of tomorrow

At the Berlin 6G Conference 2024, the vision and technologies of the new generation of mobile communications will continue to take shape. Between 2 and 4 July, experts from research and industry will come together to discuss standardisation, data protection, sustainability - and artificial intelligence (AI). After all, AI will play a key role in various areas of 6G technology, be it in data security and cryptography, network orchestration and management or intelligent resource management.

6G has the potential to fundamentally change the healthcare sector. Due to its low latency, 6G enables operations over long distances in real time, which is particularly important in view of the shortage of specialists in specialised medical fields.

The objective of 6G makes it clear why research centres, companies, the European community and politicians are focusing on 6G as the mobile network of the future. 6G should be nothing less than the bridge that overcomes the boundaries between physical and virtual reality.

Digital sovereignty and strategic planning

With an unprecedented level of connectivity between people and machines, the new generation of mobile communications opens up numerous innovative use cases that will revolutionise everyday life and work. From new encryption technologies and medical monitoring to the control of robots by thought - the potential seems limitless.

To make this future a reality, the stakeholders of the 6G Platform Germany are meeting at this year's Berlin 6G Conference 2024 to discuss, among other things, the central standards and benchmarks of 6G in order to reflect the various interests of research, industry and society.

6G Platform

In 2021, the strategy for Germany's digital sovereignty was adopted in the German government's framework programme and the 6G Platform Germany was founded as part of this. Professor Hans Schotten, head of the Intelligent Networks research department at DFKI (German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence) and professor at RPTU (Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University) Kaiserslautern, is coordinating this platform and leading the Open6GHub project, which is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with funding of around 68 million euros.

Establishing a common 6G vision is a challenge for the stakeholders of the 6G platform.

Christoph Lipps, Team Lead Cyber Resilience & Security in the Intelligent Networks research group at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence in Kaiserslautern

"Finding a consensus on the standardisation of 6G is a challenging task. Different interests and priorities of companies and researchers must be harmonised. Within the mobile communications sector, markets and corporate strategies vary considerably, which requires additional coordination. Aspects such as market security and patent issues also play a key role here."
Christoph Lipps, Team Lead Cyber Resilience & Security in the Intelligent Networks research group at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence in Kaiserslautern

How 6G is revolutionising the healthcare sector

6G is currently in a phase of consolidating requirements, defining and preparing for standardisation. One thing is certain: compared to 5G, which focussed on industrial applications, 6G will put people at the forefront. One of the resulting use cases is the field of medicine and healthcare.

"6G has the potential to fundamentally change the healthcare sector. Due to its low latency, 6G enables operations over long distances in real time, which is particularly important in view of the shortage of specialists in specialised medical fields. In addition, wearable sensors and data aggregation can improve preventive health measures. For example, we can continuously monitor the health of patients and provide early warning of critical conditions such as heart attacks - the keyword here is prediction."
Christoph Lipps

6G-Health

With future-proof healthcare as the driving force, 6G-Health is developing technology components for the integration of more powerful sensors in 6G, supplemented by network intelligence and artificial intelligence (AI). These innovations not only enable advanced patient monitoring and collaborative decision-making, but also the realisation of a smart hospital that creates new services and significant efficiency benefits through orchestrated data aggregation and intelligent sensor technology.

Security and cryptography

The security and resilience of 6G technology play a central role in the collection, processing and transmission of sensitive data, especially health data. At the same time, the data should be able to be used, for example through anonymisation, to create other added value for research and healthcare.

Reliable security mechanisms must also be implemented with regard to the sovereignty of networks that enable medical intervention in real time in order to prevent unauthorised access. Artificial intelligence is one of the tools used here.

"AI is a central component of 6G, especially in the areas of data security and cryptography. Examples of this include homomorphic encryption, as well as federated and distributed learning, which can protect sensitive health data and at the same time create added value for society. In addition, AI plays a crucial role in the orchestration and management of networks by intelligently routing data packets and efficiently managing resources."
Christoph Lipps

Many of the future applications of 6G are unthinkable without AI.

"Fascinating possibilities are opening up, such as controlling collaborative robots (cobots) by thought using brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) or neuromonitoring workers to monitor their concentration - and recommend breaks. 6G is also revolutionary for private provision. Wearable sensors and data aggregation allow us to recognise health risks at an early stage."
Christoph Lipps

The higher frequency range and shorter wavelengths of 6G will also open up pioneering possibilities for localisation in the future. For example, mobile communications can be used to locate an acutely needed device, such as a wheelchair within a hospital, in real time.

Development and standardisation

Despite all the potential and added value, it will take a few more years for the new generation of mobile communications to become established in society.

"A mobile phone generation takes around ten years to develop. The aim for 6G is to make the first solutions available by 2030 and to start standardisation by 2025. One of the biggest challenges here is to overcome the discrepancy in interests between researchers, society and industry. There are different market strategies and requirements within the mobile communications sector."
Christoph Lipps

Even after its realisation, 6G technology will not be a sudden switch from black and white to colour. Rather, applications and use cases will be added gradually.

"Until 6G can be used to its full extent, there will be step-by-step releases that open up new possibilities. In the end, the mobile communications generation will be a colourful bouquet of different technologies and applications. Ultimately, 6G will revolutionise not only medical technology, but many areas of our lives."
Christoph Lipps

Contact:

Christoph Lipps, M.Sc.

Team Lead Cyber Resilience & Security in der Forschungsgruppe Intelligente Netze , DFKI KL

Christoph.Lipps@dfki.de
Phone: +49 631 20575 5139

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans Dieter Schotten

Leiter des Forschungsbereichs Intelligente Netze , DFKI KL

Hans_Dieter.Schotten@dfki.de
Phone: +49 631 20575 3000

Press contact:

Jeremy Gob

Communications & Media , DFKI KL

Jeremy.Gob@dfki.de
Phone: +49 631 20575 1730

Further information:

Berlin 6G Conference 2024: How 6G and AI transform medicine of tomorrow

Christoph Lipps, M.Sc.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans Dieter Schotten

Jeremy Gob