NTT’s research focuses on photonics to deliver practical healthcare solutions

NTT is experimenting with photonics—the science of light waves—to enhance healthcare delivery through the next generation of the internet.

As the volume of data explodes, power, bandwidth, and resource challenges present risks to latency, cost, and the environment. Unless these challenges are solved, many revolutionary healthcare developments promised by virtual care and digital twins will stall.

NTT, the parent company of NTT DATA, drives cutting-edge photonics research via its Japan-based R&D labs and Silicon Valley-based NTT Research. It wants to go beyond communications to computation. Wider use of optical technologies instead of semiconductors for communications and computation offers 100 times more electrical efficiency, translating into lower carbon emissions. It also reduces latency (end-to-end latency of 1/200 of current best-in-class communications), allowing for enhanced machine-to-machine interactions supporting healthcare outcomes such as remote surgery, remote patient monitoring, and remote interventions.

Innovation network prepares the way for faster, more data-intensive solutions

To support the ambition for efficiency and go further still, NTT proposed the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) initiative. In 2020, NTT partnered with Sony and Intel to create the IOWN Global Forum, and now 117 companies are part of the initiative. IOWN aims to link advanced technology to create a fully connected, intelligent society with a reduced carbon footprint. Exhibit 1 shows how an architecture could be shaped to deliver this with photonics. The digital twins this would support could revolutionize how we treat many diseases, including the world’s deadliest.

Exhibit 1: Advanced technologies could be linked to power the expansion of digital twin computing

Source: NTT, 2023

NTT’s commitment to optical-technology-based innovation is driven by its $3.6 billion budget—about 3% of NTT group revenues. NTT Research drives various R&D activities, from basic to applied research, intending to address industry opportunities and global challenges and to become carbon neutral by 2040.

Bio-digital twins set to address the deadliest disease in the world

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for about 32% of all deaths globally, the highest cause of death. NTT Research is developing a cardiovascular bio-digital twin (see Exhibit 2) that provides higher diagnosis accuracy, personalized treatments, and a clearer prognosis. The idea is to leverage a mechanistic model of the cardiovascular system and tune the model for an individual patient to create a bio-digital cardiovascular twin. The bio-digital twin will help clinicians test possible treatments, adjust interventions, and administer them with a high degree of confidence to achieve the intended outcomes.

DNA, diet, and lifestyle are among the drivers of the prevalence of the disease, and progress made in diagnosing, treating, and managing CVD has been extensive. While technology enablement through electrocardiogram (ECG), implants, and intravascular lithotripsy are all extremely effective with good outcomes, they have tended to operate in the arena of treatments and therapies. The digital twin approach allows for more preventative interventions.

Exhibit 2: The value proposition of a bio-digital twin is only constrained by human imagination

Source: Upgrade 2023, NTT Research

The Bottom Line: Research structured to address industry challenges will ensure initiatives like bio-digital twins avoid becoming just another science project.

Wider use of optical technologies is perhaps the best real bet to enable the higher capacity, larger bandwidth, lower latency, and low-power next-generation internet we will need to facilitate critical applications such as remote surgery or automated clinical interventions. NTT’s research focusing on industry-specific challenges offers a template for every enterprise’s innovation roadmap to move beyond the hype surrounding any of the latest shiny toys to address challenges that matter.