Home
Perspectives
Shikha's journey to the "patient twin"
Shikha's journey to the "patient twin"
A miniature digital Shikha waves at us from the smartphone screen. Though the figure's movements still appear a bit shaky, its visual likeness to the "real" Shikha is unmistakable.
Artificial intelligence fascinates me. There's virtually nothing you can't do with it – whether it's making video games more realistic, or optimizing search engines and business outcomes. And, of course, making medical technology smarter.
Shikha Chaganti
Research and technology manager at Siemens Healthineers
The team in Princeton is focusing on artificial intelligence[1]. Scientist Shikha Chaganti has been leading the research project "My Digital Twin" since early 2021. The ambitious goal is to create a mobile phone app that will bring us one step closer to the vision of a digital patient twin.
What is artificial intelligence (AI)?
So, why do we need an app like this? And why is patient twinning a technology of the future worth striving for in the first place?
“In the current system, the patient is often the keeper of all medical data”, explains Shikha in her #Futureshaper interview: "If I'm a patient experiencing some symptoms, I often have to visit several specialists until I get the correct diagnosis. I have to carry reams of paper or CDs with test results and notes from visit to visit. I have to remember the exact symptoms I’m experiencing, when I first noticed them, and pass on the test results that any previous specialist ordered along with their referrals."
This situation harbors risks, because only physicians with all the relevant information at their disposal are able to make an accurate diagnosis and initiate the right therapeutic measures: “In the worst-case scenario, the patients might not receive the therapy they need on time, which can have far-reaching consequences.”
#Futureshaper:
![#Futureshaper: Shikha's journey to the "patient twin"](https://corporate.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/672b4b912a3457f3/c0526b03e73e/v/183c7d403d03/siemens-healthineers_perspectives_futureshaper_digital_twin_ai_shikha_umbrella.jpg)
Data get stuck in their "silos"
The idea is to establish frictionless means to gather such data in future, so that information from different sources can be correlated to find larger patterns. One day, a person's complete health and wellness data could be collected in that person's digital patient model on the app. The data would then be available anywhere at any time – in emergency situations, too, when speed is of the essence – and could be continuously updated.
What is a data silo?
An avatar – generated by artificial intelligence
Design thinking
![#Futureshaper: The digital avatar that represents the app user and looks like her or him…](https://corporate.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/7160841294d08620/2b293e885114/v/081819bd4f05/siemens-healthineers_perspectives_futureshaper_digital_twin_ai_shikha_avatar.jpg)
![#Futureshaper: The digital avatar that represents the app user and looks like her or him is generated by artificial intelligence based on a simple selfie.](https://corporate.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/8bde4fd64f5168ea/13dce81434a1/v/d4f71c95ad29/siemens-healthineers_perspectives_futureshaper_digital_twin_ai_shikha_avatar.png)
![#Futureshaper: The app backend will be able to connect with various data silos, for example with the user's smartwatch.](https://corporate.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/4e05ba225e15c6b5/896ede51b766/v/5880593314e4/siemens-healthineers_perspectives_futureshaper_digital_twin_ai_shikha_avatar.jpg)
![#Futureshaper: Shikha holding a smart phone showing a brain scan](https://corporate.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/fe088a78a3917fb0/d56cccee9dee/v/721a0562a791/siemens-healthineers_perspectives_futureshaper_digital_twin_ai_shikha_brain_scan.jpg)
It also should be able to connect with PACS in hospitals to obtain medical imaging data on the patient.
Clinical image courtesy of NYU Langone Health, Center for Biomedical Imaging (CBI), New York, USA
What is FHIR®?
- PACS stands for "Picture Archiving and Communication System". This is a digital technology system for managing and archiving medical image data from imaging processes such as radiography, CT and MRI.
This should likewise enable the app to connect with EHR servers so that data from previous examinations, the patient's medication, prior laboratory tests, etc. can also be incorporated into the digital patient. What's more, users will be able to enter their own personal data in the app, like a kind of daily "health diary" recording their current state of health and any symptoms that arise.
What does EHR stand for?
The digital twin grows with its real counterpart
Collecting data and generating new insights thanks to AI
What is cinematic rendering?
A new type of 3D visualization technology. It uses data from imaging systems to create photorealistic pictures and videos. It shows the inside of the body with such unprecedented clarity that patients can also understand the images.
What is natural language processing (NLP)?
![#Futureshaper: Shikha's journey to the "patient twin" - A comprehensive network of experts](https://corporate.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/ddb6ffdf721e551c/8f269d10a4c6/v/520bf31e3cea/siemens-healthineers_perspectives_futureshaper_digital_twin_ai_shikha_network.jpg)
A comprehensive network of experts
- Digital solutions such as digital twins can be protected by various types of intellectual property. Industrial design rights protect the graphical user interface. Copyrights protect the actual creative work – such as the programming code of the software. However, copyrights do not protect a solution's functionality: that's where patent law comes into play. Broader technical concepts can be protected by patents – like the above-mentioned compilation of previously fragmented data to create a digital twin. Technical solutions based on artificial intelligence and machine learning can likewise be protected by patents. Altogether Siemens Healthineers holds over 800 patents in the field of machine learning.
Become part of the Siemens Healthineers team
Are you also interested in joining our passionate team?
Want to read more about digital twin technology?
Here you'll find an article about the initial successes of digital twinning and challenges on the road to creating digital patient twins.
![#Futureshaper: Shikha's journey to the "patient twin"](https://corporate.webassets.siemens-healthineers.com/fc72319c1b034f14/84a08ec81354/v/c78c57f6f6a6/siemens-healthineers_perspectives_futureshaper_digital_twin_ai_shikha_umbrella_portrait.jpg)
Can serious illnesses be averted by early preventive action?
Share this page
Katja Gäbelein works as an editor in corporate communications at Siemens Healthineers, and specializes in technology and innovation topics. She writes for text and film media.
Assistant editor: Guadalupe Sanchez
- References
[1] Gethmann, Carl Friedrich; Buxmann, Peter; Distelrah, Julia; Humm, Bernhard G.; Lingner, Stephan; Nitsch, Verena; Schmidt, Jan C.; Spiecker (Döhmann), Indra (2022): Künstliche Intelligenz in der Forschung – Neue Möglichkeiten und Herausforderungen für die Wissenschaft. ("Artificial intelligence in research – New opportunities and challenges for science") Berlin: Springer. P. 8:
[2] https://www.healthcare-computing.de/was-ist-fast-healthcare-interoperability-resources-fhir-a-903586/
Disclaimer
This product is under development and not commercially available. Its future availability cannot be ensured.