A design specification for Critical Illness Digital Twins to cure sepsis: responding to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Report: Foundational Research Gaps and Future Directions for Digital Twins

Abstract

On December 15, 2023, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) released a report entitled: Foundational Research Gaps and Future Directions for Digital Twins. The ostensible purpose of this report was to bring some structure to the burgeoning field of digital twins by providing a working definition and a series of research challenges that need to be addressed to allow this technology to fulfill its full potential. In the work presented herein we focus on five specific findings from the NASEM Report: 1) definition of a Digital Twin, 2) using fit-for-purpose guidance, 3) developing novel approaches to Verification, Validation and Uncertainty Quantification (VVUQ) of Digital Twins, 4) incorporating control as an explicit purpose for a Digital Twin and 5) using a Digital Twin to guide data collection and sensor development, and describe how these findings are addressed through the design specifications for a Critical Illness Digital Twin (CIDT) aimed at curing sepsis.