5G-HEART · Project

5G Connectivity Tested for Healthcare, Fish Farming, and Transport Operations

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Imagine your doctor could guide a camera pill through your colon remotely, or a fish farmer in Norway could send underwater drones to check on their salmon pens using a super-fast mobile network. That's what 5G-HEART tested across three industries — healthcare, transport, and aquaculture — running real trials on 5G networks in five European locations. They proved that one 5G network can be sliced into separate lanes, each tailored for a different industry, much like carpool lanes on a highway — so a hospital's life-critical data never competes with a self-driving car's navigation feed.

By the numbers

€3 trillion+

Combined size of healthcare, transport, and food sectors in Europe

Partners in the consortium

Countries represented

Industry partners in the consortium

SMEs involved

64%

Industry ratio in consortium

Vertical industries validated (healthcare, transport, aquaculture)

Trial sites across Europe (Oslo, Surrey, Athens, Oulu, Groningen)

Total project deliverables

The business problem

What needed solving

Industries like healthcare, fish farming, and transport need ultra-reliable, high-speed connectivity for critical operations — remote surgery guidance, underwater drone inspections, autonomous driving — but current networks cannot guarantee the performance these applications demand. Each sector needs different network characteristics (low latency for driving, high bandwidth for video, guaranteed reliability for health), yet building separate networks for each is prohibitively expensive.

The solution

What was built

The project validated working 5G use cases: pill cameras for automatic colon cancer detection, vital-sign patches with geo-localization, AR/VR paramedic tools, autonomous and remote driving systems, vehicle data services, and underwater drones for aquaculture. These were tested on 5 integrated 5G trial sites across Europe, with 19 deliverables produced including 3 sector-specific showcase events and an international final event.

Audience

Who needs this

Aquaculture companies needing remote offshore pen monitoringHospital networks deploying remote diagnostics and cancer screeningTelecom operators building 5G vertical solutionsAutomotive companies developing connected and autonomous vehiclesMedtech companies building 5G-enabled wearable health devices

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Aquaculture & Fish Farming

any

Target: Aquaculture operators and fish farming companies

If you are an aquaculture operator dealing with costly manual inspections and limited real-time visibility into offshore pens — this project validated 5G-connected underwater drones and remote monitoring systems specifically for fish farming. Trials ran in Norway, Greece, and Ireland, three countries with worldwide importance in the sector. The technology lets you monitor stock health, feeding, and environmental conditions from shore using reliable high-bandwidth 5G connections.

Healthcare & Medical Devices

enterprise

Target: Hospital networks and medtech companies

If you are a hospital network or medical device company struggling with bandwidth limitations for remote diagnostics — this project validated 5G-enabled pill cameras for automatic colon cancer screening, vital-sign patches with advanced geo-localization, and AR/VR tools for paramedic services. These were tested on real 5G infrastructure across multiple sites. The validated approach enables faster screening and real-time remote patient monitoring without network congestion.

Automotive & Connected Transport

enterprise

Target: Fleet operators and automotive OEMs

If you are a fleet operator or automotive company working toward autonomous and remote driving capabilities — this project ran validation trials for autonomous, assisted, and remote driving plus vehicle data services over 5G networks. The trials used dedicated network slices ensuring low-latency, reliable connectivity for safety-critical driving functions. Results include validated KPIs for public safety and business models in a 5G-connected transport market.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to implement 5G-based solutions from this project?

The project did not publish specific cost figures for deployment. However, the trials ran on existing 5G testbed infrastructure (5G-Vinni in Oslo, 5Genesis in Surrey, 5G-EVE in Athens, plus Oulu and Groningen), which means the technology was validated on real operator-grade networks, not custom lab setups. Businesses interested in adoption should contact the consortium for pricing of specific components like underwater drones or pill-cam systems.

Can these 5G solutions scale to industrial operations?

The project explicitly focused on validation trials at scale, testing network slice concurrency across 5 sites in 9 countries with 25 partners. The consortium included 16 industry partners (64% of the consortium), which indicates the technology was designed for real operational environments, not just lab conditions.

Who owns the intellectual property and how can we license it?

With 25 partners across 9 countries — including 16 industry players and 5 SMEs — IP ownership is distributed across the consortium. The coordinator is VTT (Finland's national research centre). Licensing arrangements would need to be negotiated with individual partners depending on which specific technology component is of interest.

Is this tested enough for real-world deployment?

Yes, 5G-HEART ran validation trials on operational 5G testbeds, not simulations. They organized 3 vertical-specific showcase events and a final event with international speakers to present results and roadmaps. The project validated specific KPIs for healthcare, public safety, and farm management in live user environments.

How does this integrate with existing infrastructure?

The trials ran on established European 5G platforms (5G-Vinni, 5Genesis, 5G-EVE) which were integrated to form a combined platform. This means the solutions were built to work with standard 5G network architecture using network slicing and multi-access edge computing (MEC), not proprietary systems. Integration with existing telecom infrastructure is a core design principle.

What regulations apply to these 5G vertical applications?

The healthcare applications (pill cameras, vital-sign patches) fall under medical device regulations, while autonomous driving is subject to transport safety standards. The project addressed 3 sectors collectively worth over €3 trillion in Europe, so regulatory compliance was part of the validation scope. Specific regulatory findings would be available in the project's 19 deliverables.

Consortium

Who built it

This is a serious industrial consortium — 25 partners across 9 countries with a 64% industry ratio, meaning the technology was built and tested by the companies that would actually use or sell it, not just academics writing papers. The 16 industry partners and 5 SMEs alongside 4 universities and 4 research organizations give this project strong commercial grounding. Coordinated by VTT, Finland's leading research centre, with major vertical players in healthcare, transport, and aquaculture from Norway, Greece, Ireland, and beyond. The geographic spread (DE, EL, FI, FR, HR, IE, NL, NO, UK) covers key markets for all three target industries.

TEKNOLOGIAN TUTKIMUSKESKUS VTT OYCoordinator · FI
TELENOR ASAparticipant · NO
SWARCO MOBILITY NEDERLAND B.V.participant · NL
ERICSSON HELLASparticipant · EL
WINGS ICT SOLUTIONS TECHNOLOGIES PLIROFORIKIS KAI EPIKOINONION ANONYMI ETAIREIAparticipant · EL
OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCILparticipant · UK
NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK TNOparticipant · NL
ETHNICON METSOVION POLYTECHNIONparticipant · EL
SWARCO PEEK TRAFFIC B.V.thirdparty · NL
COMMISSARIAT A L ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVESparticipant · FR
INTRACOM SINGLE MEMBER SA TELECOM SOLUTIONSparticipant · EL
OSLO UNIVERSITETSSYKEHUS HFparticipant · NO
MARINE INSTITUTEparticipant · IE
POLAR ELECTRO OYparticipant · FI
ORGANISMOS TILEPIKOINONION TIS ELLADOS OTE AEparticipant · EL
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET CHEMNITZparticipant · DE
PHILIPS ELECTRONICS NEDERLAND BVparticipant · NL
REDZINC SERVICES LIMITEDparticipant · IE
SISTIMATA TILEPIKINONION ANTONIS GEORGIOU MONOPROSOPI ETERIA PERIORISMENIS EFTHINISparticipant · EL
SWARCO PEEK NL BVthirdparty · NL
UNIVERSITY OF SURREYparticipant · UK

How to reach the team

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland — search for 5G-HEART project lead at VTT

Order a report on this consortium See TEKNOLOGIAN TUTKIMUSKESKUS VTT OY profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to connect with the 5G-HEART team for aquaculture monitoring, remote healthcare, or connected transport solutions? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction to the right consortium partner for your specific use case.

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