Conceptual Approach for a Digital Twin of Medical Devices

Abstract

Over the last few years, a concept called Digital Twin has emerged continuously as a comprehensive approach in industrial domains. The concept comprises a description of strong coherence between physical products, processes, or services “as delivered” and their virtual surrogates. Internet-of-Things technology has drastically lowered the costs of Digital Twin Computing. It builds the foundation for connected products and services. Three main characteristics of Digital Twin have been identified: representation of a physical system, bidirectional data exchange, and connectiveness along the entire lifecycle. We have explored this concept in non-technical disciplines and have found several similar approaches for interaction between the real world and its digital surrogates: Digital Twins in medicine. Digital twin technology has the potential to transform healthcare in a variety of ways improving the diagnosis and treatment of patients, streamlining preventive care and facilitating new approaches for hospital planning.