The first 5G healthcare innovation lab in the U.S. has been announced, powered by Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband service.

By embracing new technologies, the Emory Healthcare Innovation Hub (EHIH) aims to improve patient care and provider experience. To that end, the partnership with Verizon 5G will add digital speed and connectivity to an ecosystem working to transform the healthcare industry.

Additionally, the extra speed and low latency will provide researchers with the ability to create novel solutions such as connected ambulances, robotic-assisted surgery, remote physical therapy, and next-generation medical imaging.

“The healthcare industry, driven by value-based care and increased consumerization, is set for a paradigm shift that will put a much greater focus on connectivity and access to data,” Scott D. Boden, MD, vice president for business innovation for Emory healthcare, said in a statement.

Verizon will collaborate with Emory’s nine Innovation Hub partners to help further the development of 5G-enabled healthcare solutions — including founding partner Sharecare and 11TEN Innovation Partners, who have a “demand driven innovation” approach to solve the most challenging issues in the healthcare space.

The hub will also be able to explore augmented and virtual reality applications for medical training, enable telemedicine and remote patient monitoring, and provide point of care diagnostic and imaging systems from the ambulance to the ER through Verizon’s Ultra Wideband.

“The potential of Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband combined with mobile edge computing to transform healthcare limitless,” said Tami Erwin, CEO of Verizon business group. “This is why Verizon’s partnering with Emory to explore the 5G future of patient care. With 5G, doctors should be able to do things like create holographic 3D anatomical renderings that can be studied from every angle and even projected onto the body in the OR to help guide surgery.”

Verizon currently operates five 5G Labs in the US and one in London. Alas, it is not the only company in the world experimenting with new connectivity technologies. In South Korea, Samsung Medical Center (SMC) and Korea’s largest telecommunications company KT have formed a similar partnership to develop an innovative 5G medical service to support the development of smart hospitals.