The Digital Twin in Medicine: A Key to the Future of Healthcare?

Abstract

There is a growing need for precise diagnosis and personalized treatment of disease in recent years. Providing treatment tailored to each patient and maximizing efficacy and efficiency are broad goals of the healthcare system. As an engineering concept that connects the physical entity and digital space, the digital twin (DT) entered our lives at the beginning of Industry 4.0. It is evaluated as a revolution in many industrial fields and has shown the potential to be widely used in the field of medicine. This technology can offer innovative solutions for precise diagnosis and personalized treatment processes. Although there are difficulties in data collection, data fusion, and accurate simulation at this stage, we speculated that the DT may have an increasing use in the future and will become a new platform for personal health management and healthcare services. We introduced the DT technology and discussed the advantages and limitations of its applications in the medical field. This article aims to provide a perspective that combining Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI) technology; the DT will help establish high-resolution models of patients to achieve precise diagnosis and personalized treatment.

Digital twin in healthcare: Recent updates and challenges

“… 10 As a moving concept, DT is a virtual copy of the human organs, tissues, cells or micro-environment that constantly adjusts to variations in the online data and can predict the future of the corresponding counterpart. 11 , 12 However, the DT is more than just a digital model that is connected with a real-life twin through various emerging technologies. It is a living, intelligent and evolving model which can optimise the processes and continuously predicts future statuses (e.g.…”

Digital health in the era of COVID-19: Reshaping the next generation of healthcare

“…The World Health Organization has suggested that countries keep maximizing the opportunities for digital health interventions (DHIs) to accelerate sustainable health development and universal health coverage. DHIs are applications of smartphones, health information technology, wearable devices, telemedicine, and personalized medicine to facilitate healthcare and attain intended health outcomes (1,2). They enhance patient care by facilitating treatment adherence and monitoring, person-centered care, laboratory diagnosis, data management, disease surveillance, drug-safety monitoring, and professional development (3)(4)(5).…”

Artificial intelligence in orthopaedic surgery

“…The accuracy of its function can be progressively refined, as it has intriguingly been likened to successive human learning, whereby sequential exposure reinforces comprehension. 2,3,9 While still in its infancy, the application of AI in the field of orthopaedics is a new frontier of data science. Orthopaedic surgery is already home to some of the most innovative technologies, such as robotic-assisted surgery, of which AI is an ever-growing part.…”

“…The accuracy of its function can be progressively refined, as it has intriguingly been likened to successive human learning, whereby sequential exposure reinforces comprehension. 2,3,9…”