On the Integration of Agents and Digital Twins in Healthcare
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MOBILE & WIRELESS HEALTH
On the Integration of Agents and Digital Twins in Healthcare Angelo Croatti1
· Matteo Gabellini1 · Sara Montagna1 · Alessandro Ricci1
Received: 18 May 2020 / Accepted: 16 July 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract A digital twin is a digital representation of a physical asset reproducing its data model, its behaviour and its communication with other physical assets. Digital twins act as a digital replica for the physical object or process they represent, providing nearly real-time monitoring and evaluation without being in close proximity. Although most of their concrete applications can be found mainly in the industrial context, healthcare represents another relevant area where digital twins can have a disruptive impact. The main research question tackled by this paper is about the integration of digital twins with agents and Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) technologies in healthcare. After providing an overview of the application of digital twins in healthcare, in this paper, we discuss our vision about agent-based digital twins, and we present a first case study, about the application of agent-based digital twins to the management of severe traumas. Keywords Digital twin · Agents · MAS · Healthcare · Trauma management
Introduction The concept of Digital Twin (DT) originally appeared in manufacturing literature at the beginning of 2010s, referring to a digital representation of an asset (e.g., physical objects, processes, devices) containing the model of its data, its functionalities and communication interfaces [10]. A DT provides both the elements and the dynamics of how the asset operates throughout its life cycle, emphasising the connection between the physical model and the corresponding virtual counterpart [10]. In recent years, digital twins have become an important concept in Industry 4.0 [21], and in particular into the process of designing and developing industrial assets, This article part of the Topical Collection: Healthcare Intelligent Multi-Agent Systems (HIMAS2020) Guest Editors: Neil Vaughan, Sara Montagna, Stefano Mariani, Eloisa Vargiu and Michael I. Schumacher Angelo Croatti
[email protected] Sara Montagna [email protected] Alessandro Ricci [email protected] 1
Computer Science and Engineering Department (DISI), University of Bologna, via dell’Universit`a, 50, Cesena, Italy
involving different research fields—from the Internet of Things (IoT) to Simulation and Artificial Intelligence. A digital twin of an industrial asset collects in real-time data provided by the asset’s sensors to build a digital counterpart. Using this counterpart, it is possible carrying out simulations about the current and future state of the asset, reasoning about potential condition before they occur, or continuously collecting and analysing data on the ongoing state of the asset to prevent unwanted situations. This can be exploited for operation optimisation and for the maintenance of physical assets, systems and manufacturing processes. Besides manufacturing and Industry 4.0, the digital
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