Research on Cardiovascular Bio Digital Twin Promises Personalized Precision Medicine
One of the primary research areas of the NTT Research Medical and Health Informatics (MEI) Lab is in the area of the Bio Digital Twin. Our research is focused on improving medical outcomes and we are dedicated to the P4 practice of medicine: Personalized, Preventive, Predictive and Participatory.
Toward that end, the MEI Lab is working to individualize and revolutionize healthcare through implementation of Bio Digital Twin technologies which promise to achieve precision medicine that is at once predictive, preventive and personalized. As with our nanotechnology research area we envision a future in which medical and health science results are increasingly accessible to healthcare professionals and patients alike.
Bio Digital Twin technology involves replicating the human body in software models on which health care providers can test drugs and therapies. The technology enables doctors to test therapies far more quickly as compared with actual patients and removes the risk of doing any harm, given the “patient” is merely a software model.
Watch Digital Doppelgänger video below.
Initial Target: Acute Cardiac Conditions
Our initial focus is a Cardiovascular Bio Digital Twin (CV BioDT) which uses digital twin technology to model the cardiovascular system. The MEI Lab will first target acute cardiac conditions, in particular myocardial infarction and acute heart failure.
Such a model would help doctors work out treatment plans for patients who present with a heart issue. They could use the model to forecast the effectiveness of various drugs and drug combinations and home in on the best options in seconds.
For more detail, see Dr. Jon Peterson's Upgrade 2021 presentation, "Demonstrating the Promise of Bio-Digital Twin Technology for More Effective Patient Treatments."
CV BioDT for Chronic Cardiac Conditions
Later iterations of the CV BioDT will target chronic cardiac conditions, such as chronic heart failure and common co-morbidities. Chronic conditions often involve multiple organs and neurohumoral control systems, making them more complex to diagnose.
The goal with the CV BioDT is to represent these complex interactions among organ systems, thereby addressing what is currently an unmet medical need. It will also enable a closed-loop system for diagnostics that takes the physician at least somewhat out of the loop.
The MEI Lab’s CV BioDT research will address the two most common forms of chronic heart failure, ischemic and hypertensive. We are working on three computational platforms over a 5-year period:
- A platform that characterizes a fundamental feature of chronic heart failure, neuro-hormonal activation and alterations in regulatory control by the autonomic nervous system.
- A mechanical adaptation platform that monitors progressive changes in the structure of the cardiovascular system.
- An energetics platform, which includes a model of coronary circulation, meaning the blood vessels that supply the heart.
More Bio Digital Twin Content on the NTT Research Website:
- NTT Research Video: Applying Bioinformatics and Data Science to Medical Research
- Research Presentation: Demonstrating the Promise of Bio-Digital Twin Technology for More Effective Patient Treatments
- Research Presentation: Bio Digital Twins in Health and Disease
- Research Presentation: Bio-digital Twin Technology Shows Promise in Autonomous Cardiac Therapy
- Bio Digital Twin Overview Presentation: A Cardiovascular (CV) Bio Digital Twin
