‘Digital Twins’ are no longer science fiction

(Bloomberg Opinion) – Glioblastoma is one of the most common, aggressive and deadly forms of brain cancer. The prognosis – with an average survival of 15 to 18 months after diagnosis – has not changed in more than half a century.

A major challenge in treating glioblastoma is that tumors vary widely among patients and the cells within them are not alike. Too often, choosing the right combination of invasive surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy equates to a high-risk estimate.

Brain tumor’s “digital twin” may help. Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence and mathematical modeling over the past decade, doctors can now create a virtual copy of the affected area in a specific patient using genetic information, medical records, blood tests and scans. With a digital twin, doctors can detect abnormalities before physical symptoms emerge, predict how tumors will grow, and determine which combination of surgeries and treatments will yield the best results. Initial results have been promising.

Digital twins are at the forefront of the long-awaited era of precision medicine – a significant evolution from the one-size-fits-all approach to disease prevention and treatment. Today the technology may still seem closer to science fiction than reality, but with the right support, investment and security measures, this could change.

The concept of digital twin is not new. Digital twins have been used for decades in industrial sectors such as aerospace engineering and more recently car manufacturing. With real-time data from blueprints and sensors, engineers can predict performance in extreme conditions – for example, a jet engine in severe weather – and anticipate maintenance needs. Although definitions are evolving, digital twins typically require a two-way flow of information: real-world data from a physical object goes into a model, then the model predicts outcomes for the real-world object. Is.

The potential uses of digital twins in medicine are wide-ranging. Beyond cancer, digital twins are being used to treat potentially fatal heart arrhythmias and manage type 1 diabetes. Last year, Blackstone Inc. deployed a digital-twin pilot to curb spending on expensive weight-loss drugs for employees; Costs halved for 160 people enrolled for at least three months. Scientists also hope to create digital twins for clinical trials of rare diseases and improve the diversity of the patient pool. Simply making the placebo group smaller would speed up trials, significantly reduce costs and – hopefully – get treatments to market faster.

According to some estimates, the digital-twin health care market could grow from $1.6 billion today to more than $20 billion by 2028. But there are challenges too. Unlike a jet engine, the human body has no blueprint. And as doctors collect abundant data from patients, some electronic record systems become interconnected.

The first step towards making digital twins mainstream will be to obtain more and better data. For example, Europe is making progress toward a standardized health database. While such efforts would be challenging to replicate in the US given market fragmentation, medical engineers should create digital twins with the goal of making them interoperable across different data systems.

The computing power required to run such models will require investment. Public-private partnerships, in line with the European Commission’s program to promote cooperation between industry and academia, can help reduce costs. Furthermore, technology demands the addition of new skills, engineering and medicine. Earlier this year, China’s government named digital twins one of six “industries of the future” and urged laboratories and research institutes to allocate more than half of their core funding to scientists under the age of 35. Spend on.

Privacy concerns will arise. Existing data protections will need to be reexamined and revised. There will be questions about who owns or controls the digital twin, and how diagnostics and treatments using the technology will be priced and paid for. These innumerable uncertainties should not be allowed to hinder development. The potential benefits are enormous.

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