Digital Twins in Health Care: Ethical Implications of an Emerging Engineering Paradigm

Frontiers in Genetics
Koen BruynseelsJeroen van den Hoven

Abstract

Personalized medicine uses fine grained information on individual persons, to pinpoint deviations from the normal. 'Digital Twins' in engineering provide a conceptual framework to analyze these emerging data-driven health care practices, as well as their conceptual and ethical implications for therapy, preventative care and human enhancement. Digital Twins stand for a specific engineering paradigm, where individual physical artifacts are paired with digital models that dynamically reflects the status of those artifacts. When applied to persons, Digital Twins are an emerging technology that builds onin silicorepresentations of an individual that dynamically reflect molecular status, physiological status and life style over time. We use Digital Twins as the hypothesis that one would be in the possession of very detailed bio-physical and lifestyle information of a person over time. This perspective redefines the concept of 'normality' or 'health,' as a set of patterns that are regularfor a particular individual, against the backdrop of patterns observed in the population. This perspective also will impact what is considered therapy and what is enhancement, as can be illustrated with the cases of the 'asymptomatic ill' and life ext...Continue Reading

References

Jun 20, 2000·Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics : CQ : the International Journal of Healthcare Ethics Committees·N Daniels
Nov 25, 2004·British Journal of Sports Medicine·J SavulescuM Clayton
Jan 23, 2010·Science and Engineering Ethics·Fritz AllhoffJesse Steinberg
Dec 15, 2010·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·Masud Husain, Mitul A Mehta
Jan 25, 2011·Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders·Klaus W LangeOliver Tucha
May 3, 2011·Science and Engineering Ethics·Jeroen Van den HovenIbo Van de Poel
Jul 26, 2011·Science and Engineering Ethics·Vincent MenuzBéatrice Godard
Jan 17, 2012·Nanoethics·Job TimmermansJeroen van den Hoven
Feb 3, 2012·Molecular Therapy : the Journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy·Malcolm K Brenner
Aug 3, 2013·Bioethics·Guy Kahane, Julian Savulescu
Feb 11, 2015·Journal of the National Cancer Institute·Shivaani KummarJames H Doroshow
Apr 22, 2015·Protein & Cell·Puping LiangJunjiu Huang
Apr 29, 2016·Genome Medicine·Jason Lloyd-PriceCurtis Huttenhower
Aug 26, 2016·Lancet·Steven R SteinhublEric J Topol
Oct 30, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Amalio TelentiJ Craig Venter
Oct 25, 2016·ESC Heart Failure·Wayne L Miller, Allan S Jaffe
Oct 12, 2017·BMC Medical Ethics·Bjørn Hofmann

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Nov 20, 2018·JAMA : the Journal of the American Medical Association·Lionel Tarassenko, Eric J Topol
Jun 22, 2018·Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine : CCLM·Larry J Kricka
Jun 13, 2019·Nature Reviews. Cancer·Eran ElinavJennifer Wargo
Apr 7, 2020·Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research·Katarzyna KolasaAlexander Berler
Jun 26, 2018·Current Diabetes Reports·Rona J Strawbridge, Natalie R van Zuydam
Feb 19, 2019·Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics·René H Levy, Isabelle Ragueneau-Majlessi
Aug 5, 2020·Journal of Medical Systems·Angelo CroattiAlessandro Ricci
Apr 17, 2019·Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine·Sanjeev P Bhavnani, Amy M Sitapati
Nov 12, 2020·Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport·Daniel C BillingHenriette Hasselstrøm
Nov 17, 2020·Neoplasia : an International Journal for Oncology Research·Angela M JarrettThomas E Yankeelov
Mar 5, 2021·Network and Systems Medicine·Massimiliano ZaninHarald H H W Schmidt
Mar 17, 2021·Journal of Medical Ethics·Matthias Braun
Apr 14, 2021·European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging·Margarita KirienkoArturo Chiti
May 12, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·J MasisonR Laubenbacher
May 21, 2021·Frontiers in Immunology·Isabel VoigtTjalf Ziemssen
Jun 8, 2021·Archives of Computational Methods in Engineering : State of the Art Reviews·Grace C Y PengEllen Kuhl
Aug 28, 2021·Journal of Personalized Medicine·Maged N Kamel Boulos, Peng Zhang
Oct 14, 2021·Nature Reviews. Cardiology·Genevieve CooreyJulie Redfern
Dec 21, 2021·Journal of Sleep Research·Christophe Gauld, Jean-Arthur Micoulaud-Franchi
Jan 19, 2021··Andreas WortmannBernhard Rumpe
Oct 17, 2019··Giuseppe PapuzzoCarmela Comito

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Software Mentioned

Digital
Digital Twins

Related Concepts

Trending Feeds

COVID-19

Coronaviruses encompass a large family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as more serious diseases, such as the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; formally known as 2019-nCoV). Coronaviruses can spread from animals to humans; symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties; in more severe cases, infection can lead to death. This feed covers recent research on COVID-19.

Blastomycosis

Blastomycosis fungal infections spread through inhaling Blastomyces dermatitidis spores. Discover the latest research on blastomycosis fungal infections here.

Nuclear Pore Complex in ALS/FTD

Alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport, controlled by the nuclear pore complex, may be involved in the pathomechanism underlying multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Here is the latest research on the nuclear pore complex in ALS and FTD.

Applications of Molecular Barcoding

The concept of molecular barcoding is that each original DNA or RNA molecule is attached to a unique sequence barcode. Sequence reads having different barcodes represent different original molecules, while sequence reads having the same barcode are results of PCR duplication from one original molecule. Discover the latest research on molecular barcoding here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by unexplained disabling fatigue; the pathology of which is incompletely understood. Discover the latest research on chronic fatigue syndrome here.

Evolution of Pluripotency

Pluripotency refers to the ability of a cell to develop into three primary germ cell layers of the embryo. This feed focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the evolution of pluripotency. Here is the latest research.

Position Effect Variegation

Position Effect Variagation occurs when a gene is inactivated due to its positioning near heterochromatic regions within a chromosome. Discover the latest research on Position Effect Variagation here.

STING Receptor Agonists

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) are a group of transmembrane proteins that are involved in the induction of type I interferon that is important in the innate immune response. The stimulation of STING has been an active area of research in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Here is the latest research on STING receptor agonists.

Microbicide

Microbicides are products that can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosal surfaces with the goal of preventing, or at least significantly reducing, the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Here is the latest research on microbicides.

Related Papers

Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior
Hester J T Ward
M.D. Computing : Computers in Medical Practice
J R Christiansen
The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics : a Journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics
Deven McGraw
© 2022 Meta ULC. All rights reserved