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Digital Twin

A patient twin to protect John’s heart

A patient twin that constantly watches over a person's health? For Siemens Healthineers, this is a vision for the early, targeted detection of heart disease that could become a reality in 10 years. Meet John, a “patient of the future”.  

10min
Katja Gäbelein
Published on August 16, 2022

What if we could put patients and medical practitioners in a position to detect the progression of cardiovascular diseases and take appropriate countermeasures to contain them at an early stage? What if we could use digital twin technology to improve the quality of life for those affected and help them to live longer?

Patient Twin: Allow us to introduce our future patient. This is John.

All relevant data at a glance

Watch the video: Future technological vision from a clinical perspective

Perfectly networked

Patient Twin: Even John’s smart coffee machine is hooked up to the network and collects data on his coffee consumption.

Ultrasound at the shopping mall

Heart disease can affect anyone:

Approx. 50%
of heart attacks remain undetected on account of mild symptoms, even though they can result in long-term damage to the heart.
  1. Source: Silent Myocardial Infarction and Long-Term Risk of Heart Failure: The ARIC Study - PubMed (nih.gov)
80%
of heart attack patients die before they can even receive treatment.

    A few weeks later, something unsettling happens

    What’s the matter with John?

    Patient Twin: John’s patient twin asks him to carry out various tests at home, which he has on hand as agreed with his cardiologist.

    Digital medical practitioner twin

    Patient Twin: John's digital twin automatically books an examination appointment for John with the relevant CT twin and presents itself there virtually.

    Personalized care

    A few years later...

    Patient Twin; The emergency physician and the paramedics initiate immediate preventive measures.

    A vision is gradually becoming reality

    By Katja Gäbelein

    An interdisciplinary team of internal and external experts developed this future vision during workshops led by Dr. Peter Aulbach. An engineer with a doctorate in health sciences, he works in the Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) department. 

    The future scenario was written up by Katja Gäbelein. She works as a corporate communications editor at Siemens Healthineers, and specializes in technology and innovation topics.

    1. Disclaimer

      This text describes possibly future ideas and concepts. It is not intended to describe specific performance and/or safety characteristics of currently planned or future products. Future realization and availability cannot be guaranteed.