By Healthcare Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
Digital twins are virtual copies of patients’ organs. Healthcare companies can use them to test drugs, and the tech can be used alongside artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate how a disease might progress.
How are digital twins used in clinical trials?
French pharma company Sanofi has been using digital twins in clinical trials to show how a patient’s body might react to a drug or see how a drug might work. The company uses AI with quantitative systems pharmacology, which combines math and biology, to train its digital twins.
Researchers also use digital twins to identify target patient groups that could benefit the most from drugs. This could help researchers recruit the right candidates for their clinical trials.
What are other ways digital twins can be used in healthcare?
Outside of clinical trials, digital twins have a number of uses. According to HealthTech Magazine, Johns Hopkins uses digital twins to help predict electrical heart activity and treat patients with heart rhythm conditions. And Cleveland Clinic applies them in a health equity sense to get better insight into how a patient’s neighborhood impacts their health.
