Development of ‘digital twin’ heart models for monitoring PAH NHS patients

The Researchers from Imperial College London (ICL), the Alan Turing Institute and the Universities of Sheffield and Nottingham have put their back-breaking efforts into developing and testing the first-ever ‘digital twin’ heart models to treat chronically ill NHS pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients, as per the reports. 

The Cardiovascular Disease-Net project has received about £8m in funds from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. It is further funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a life-threatening disease affecting nearly 6500 patients in the UK alone. Its symptoms include severe breathlessness, which may lead to heart failure and frequent hospitalisation. 

The Research team works to design and build accurate virtual copies of the hearts of the patients based on their health data, including medical records, hospital scans, and data from wearable and implanted monitors. The data is continuously updated with the real-time data. 

To execute this project, a team of engineers, clinicians, computational statisticians, and research engineers are collaborating to access the data and build the digital infrastructure. The team works closely with patients, doctors, and stakeholders to advance its usability and accuracy. 

Researchers expect that digital twin hearts will enable precise tracking and assessment of the patient’s disease progression and response to treatment, thereby allowing for personalised predictions.

The Alan Turing Institute launched its own digital twin’s initiative, the Turing Research and Innovation Cluster (TRIC-DT), in 2023 to increase access to the emerging digital twin technology for development and deployment in the nation's service.