By Jill Pease
As artificial intelligence technology continues to shape our world, the use of digital twins is gaining momentum, revolutionizing the way we approach decision-making and problem-solving in many industries, including health care.
Andy Lin, vice president of strategy/chief technology officer with Mark III Systems, an NVIDIA elite partner, gave audience members a look at digital twins and health care in a seminar hosted by the University of College of Public Health and Health Professions Artificial Intelligence Work Group, held November 15 at Malachowsky Hall for Data Science and Information Technology.
Lin described digital twins as a 3D or a real-life representation of something that exists in the natural world. This virtual replica gives people the ability to run simulations and make better decisions based on real-world contexts. Digital twins hold important potential for transforming industries, Lin said, and their applications are numerous and diverse. The use of digital twins can make information more accessible to non-experts, enhancing user experience and interaction.
Lin also highlighted the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to build successful digital twins.
“We found that it requires people working in anywhere between five to 10 different domains to make one of these come to life, people who would not have ordinarily worked together in the past,” he said. “In a world where many people are hybrid, where, in order to build your best team, members may be across the country or somewhere else, you need a platform, a strategy to be able to represent the real world and allow all those people to collaborate. Developing digital twins is the way to do it.”
Interested UF researchers have the opportunity to collaborate with NVIDIA experts through the NVIDIA AI Technology Center at UF, a first-of-its-kind research center that gives university researchers access to NVIDIA’s scientists and technologies.
Lin walked audience members through a digital twin currently being built of UF Health Shands Hospital by team members with Mark III Systems, NVIDIA, and University of Florida IC3. The digital twin provides a model of a 50-room wing that is representative of other hospital floors. A hospital digital twin offers unlimited opportunities for organizations to conduct simulations related to clinical, operational or research functions, he said. This may include ways to optimize the patient experience, provide virtual demonstrations to potential patients or plan for hospital construction.
“I think there will be a digital twin or a virtual representation of almost every physical system,” Lin said. “It’s just a question of when it’s going to happen and who’s going to lead that charge. We are in a transformational moment which will lead to an explosion in the digital twin space over the next five years. For those who decide to go all in, the timing’s incredible right now.”