Digital twins: your copy will go to the doctor’s office for you

Imagine one Exact reply of yourself. From the feet to that hair that is left to the head. But also from each blood vessel, muscle and organ that forms it and differentiates it from any other person in the world. A scale copy, a ‘digital patient’, with which you can interact and submit diagnostic tests to know, if in the future, you can suffer from any type of disease and how to treat it effectively in your particular case.

It is not science fiction, it is what groups of experts from several countries work, including Spain, so that tomorrow is this copy, based on digital twins, which goes to the doctor’s office instead. The digital twins They are virtual replicas of an object, a system or even a human organ that allows simulating their behavior in different situations without experimenting with the real version. This technology, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and data analysis, is transforming multiple sectors, from engineering to medicine.

To understand it better, it is enough to imagine the aeronautical industry. Before trying a new engine in a real plane, engineers create a digital engine twin to analyze how it will react to different temperature, pressure or wear conditions. This Avoid risks, reduces costs and allows you to optimize design without the need for physical tests. A similar case occurs in cities, where some have developed digital replicas of their infrastructure to anticipate the impact of new constructions or improve traffic management before applying changes in real life.

Digital twins are not a novelty, we have been working with them for more than 20 years. After this term Michael Grieves coined this term in 2002, NASA was one of the first institutions to apply this concept in space exploration, using digital models to predict failures in ships and satellites without the need to physically intervene in them. But AI has allowed its research in biomedicine to accelerate vertiginously.

We have seen them in movies (Tony Stark uses them to recreate her body and make her famous armor in ‘Iron Man’; in ‘Prometheus’ the protagonist uses an advanced surgical machine that scan her body to make a digital twin and then perform autonomous surgery; and in ‘Avatar’ we see its use to pass the consciousness of a human to the body of an alien) and now they are now a reality in the field of health.

At present, hospitals, research centers and technology companies work on the development of digital models of organs, fabrics and biological systems, with the aim of improving diagnoses, planning surgeries and customizing medical treatments.

An “Exact” replica

The key difference between digital twins and simulation is that the latter He is not able to reflect the reaction of an organism to different interactionsS, as would the administration of a drug, so that there will always be a discrepancy between simulated and reality. The digital twin is an exact replica of that reality. «We use images of CT, of resonance, of analytics, of biomarkers, of genetics … we make a replica of the individual that is himself but at the digital level. It is as its body works, as well as its genetic and molecular information, ”explains Francisco Herrera, professor of computer sciences and artificial intelligence at the University of Granada.

“The AI ​​and the Internet of Things has allowed it to begin to glimpse and capture in reality what science fiction promised,” says Erika Pastrana, neuroscientific and editorial director of the magazine ‘Nature’. “Now we can study and interact with your heart or mine and not a generic model of the organ, because the AI ​​facilitates analyzing data in a much more efficient way, working along with more information,” he emphasizes.

The advances have allowed digital twins to be used in clinical trials of organs such as The heart, lungs, liver or even brain. Simulate blood flow, estimate heart disease and get ahead of arrhythmias; model air flow and oxygen diffusion in the respiratory system; Evaluate metabolism and improve the diagnosis of liver diseases; Simulate transplants or even predict the evolution of diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson and customize treatment to stop their effects, are just some possibilities.

«We talk about refine more than ever precision medicineto offer patients a personalized treatment like the one they have never had, all depending on the particularities of each one, ”says Pastrana.

Spain, at the head

In Spain, several companies, institutions and hospital research groups have advanced to the development of other countries in this area. This is the case of the National Oncological Research Center (CNIO), the Vall d’Hebron Hospital or the Siemens Healthineers company.

From Siemens Healthineers, they drive the use of digital twins in different areas, including the operating room, to optimize the work of professionals. “Surgeons can plan complex interventions with greater precision, reducing risks and improving the recovery of patients,” says Teresa Arias, responsible for scientific research at Siemens Healthineers. «For example, if a patient needs complex cardiac surgery, doctors can create a digital twin of his heart to simulate the operation and anticipate any complication before physically intervene».

For its part, the CNIO leads the ‘digital twin’ project, which develops virtual models of patients with advanced breast, lung and colorectal cancerto improve your understanding and treatment. Until October 2024, clinical trials have already been carried out in more than 100 women. CNIO sources detail ABC that the innovative characteristic is the remote monitoring of the patients, which allows to “capture real -time data on multiple factors that could influence the development and progression of cancer.” To do this, they integrate data beyond traditional clinical information, such as stress, emotional state, sleep quality or physical activity.

In the Research Institute of the Vall D´Hebron Hospital (VHIR), the group led by Dr. Raúl Herance coordinates the European project ‘Artemis’, to study the disease of the fatty liver, its effects on cardiovascular health and improve clinical decision making. «The project is divided into four clinical trials with Different heart and liver twinswhere we start from a database of 9,000 patients, ”says Herance, who adds that the” achievement “of having so much information is in the collaborative work of 21 partners from 9 countries, such as the United Kingdom, Italy or France.

Limitations and ethical problems

However, everything that shines is not gold, and experts agree that, despite the advances, the implementation of digital twins in Spain presents “limitations.” «Technology advances faster than the health system can assumeand it is not bad because it allows more solid solutions, but delays its adoption, ”says Herance, which also indicates that health authorities will play a key role in the validation and regulation of these systems. But there are also development problems, and according to Arias, “hospitals have reluctance in sharing the information of their patients for ethical reasons,” which slows many clinical trials. The potential of this technology for the crime is alarming: biometric data or that a hacker ‘kidnapping your digital twin and your identity could be marketed.

In addition, another stone on the road is the training of professionals, who will have to learn from zero what for them have been years of experience and practice. «Everything has to start at universitiesintroduce digital twins into classrooms so that future doctors know their handling since before crossing the hospital entrance, ”says Herrera.

The ‘digital patient’

It remains to be seen then how close we are that the idea of ​​the ‘digital patient’ comes true, something that experts agree that “it is not as distant as it seems.” «We have a job ahead, but we are sure that its implementation in all hospitals It will be a reality in 5 or 10 years», He expresses with hopes.