Digital twins: How virtual hearts ensure safer surgeries?

A digital twin is the virtual model of a physical object. In cardiothoracic surgery, a digital twin can be utilized to represent a human heart. It's more than just a 3D object, however,  because it behaves like a heart. Doctors can change things in the digital model (like replacing a valve or adding a pacemaker) and instantly see how your body might react before touching the real patient.

There are so many advantages to this new technology. It helps surgeons test drive different surgical approaches before the real surgery. Every heart is unique, so the doctors can take from your scans, tests and even blood flow measurements to build a heart that behaves exactly like yours. This ensures that if something goes wrong, the doctor can change their approach and make sure the patient doesn’t suffer any consequences. 

Digital hearts are already being used around the world. At Johns Hopkins, researchers built digital heart twins using MRI scans and patient genetics. These models show dangerous electrical spirals that can cause irregular heartbeats. Doctors then test out their treatments virtually before making a plan of action. In the Netherlands, scientists created digital heart twins for patients with heart failure. The models correctly predicted who would benefit from a pacemaker, helping doctors personalize treatment. A huge study in the UK used MRI and ECG data to create more than 3,000 digital twin hearts. This was able to show how age, sex, and body type affect heart function. Using this knowledge can guide treatment in real patients. 

It’s kind of like how pilots use a flight simulator before flying a new plane. Surgeons use the heart simulator to practice surgery. Although the idea may sound futuristic, it's already here. Digital twins are making medicine more safer and personal to you. It’s exciting to think that one day, your own digital twin could be the secret hero that helps keep your real heart safe.

Sources

“A Digital “Twin” for Individualized Cardiology.” Hopkinsmedicine.org, 2025, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/2025/05/a-digital-twin-for-individualized-cardiology? Accessed 6 Sept. 2025.

“Digital Twin of Heart Patient Can Correctly Predict Outcomes of Medical Treatment.” Maastrichtuniversity.nl, 2024, www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/news/digital-twin-heart-patient-can-correctly-predict-outcomes-medical-treatment. Accessed 6 Sept. 2025.

Qian, Shuang, et al. “Developing Cardiac Digital Twin Populations Powered by Machine Learning Provides Electrophysiological Insights in Conduction and Repolarization.” Nature Cardiovascular Research, vol. 4, no. 5, May 2025, pp. 624–636, www.nature.com/articles/s44161-025-00650-0, https://doi.org/10.1038/s44161-025-00650-0. Accessed 17 May 2025.