Digital Twins are playing a
number of key roles in health care. The most prevailing today are the following
three:
· Helping medical facilities monitor through a digital replica, performance of sensitive medical equipment such as advanced MRI scanners, and provide proactive maintenance measures based on digital sensors before a malfunction occurs
· Augmenting the design of a hospital facility with simulation of solutions on a digital replica for patient occupancy, operating room capacities and environment control, to inform the selection of the best performing solution at the most optimal cost
· Personalizing patient medical treatment by exposing a digital human replica to volumes of treatment data (big data), from which correlations to the best suitable treatment for the patient at hand can be derived
· Augmenting the design of a hospital facility with simulation of solutions on a digital replica for patient occupancy, operating room capacities and environment control, to inform the selection of the best performing solution at the most optimal cost
· Personalizing patient medical treatment by exposing a digital human replica to volumes of treatment data (big data), from which correlations to the best suitable treatment for the patient at hand can be derived
For the first role, which is in advanced stages, companies like GE Healthcare are using digital twin models for their high operations MRI scanners. By flagging on a digital twin of the scanner in a proactive manner trouble or maintenance areas of concern on this expensive highly needed machine, remedial measures can be taken on the scanner during off peak hours before an abrupt breakdown is experienced. Such a breakdown will impact healthcare diagnosis for large masses of people and hence it is critical that it does not take place.
Digital Twins of hospital designs are a reality too, the second role stated above, and are on the market. GE Healthcare Camden Group is using digital twin modeling in designing hospital facilities, where a digital replica is used to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare provisioning while maintaining proper flow of patients, physicians, nurses and other healthcare stakeholders throughout the facility before it is actually built - a living the hospital experience in the digital world and making all needed alterations in design and space utilization for the optimal fit-for-purpose facility to be built. Adequate provisioning of hospital beds, proper waiting areas for operating rooms, and sanitization zone layouts are but a few examples of solutions that can be tried and retried on the digital replica of the hospital design model for the best performing solution in each category to be selected and at the right cost.
And last but certainly not
least, personalized treatments for patients using digital twins of human beings
and big data, the third role stated above, have a great revolutionary promise
yet are still at the concept level today. By interfacing digital twins of human beings,
with their exact biological characteristics, to volumes of medical treatment
data and conducting rounds of correlations between the patient specifics and
the treatment constructs and outcomes, finding the most impactful personalized
treatment for the patient can be realized.
On to future digital twin applications in health care and other industries we go. Thank you for reading and hope to see you back soon on our blog. New joiners are always welcomed!