We have all heard, more or less with interest and profusion of the terms IoT (Internet of Things) and Industry 4.0, Digital Twins and Additive Manufacturing.

Some of us, out of sheer curiosity or various needs, have approached these subjects as part of the training or continuous learning imposed on us by a profession that is in constant movement as that of the technical translator.

For those who are not aware of these relatively recent movements, the digital twin consists of linking an element of the “physical and real” world with an exact model of that physical element created (before or afterwards) in the “virtual” world, but also with the particularity that both of them are related bidirectionally (data flow in both directions) and the manipulation of one of them (usually the virtual) results in changes in the real element. This requires that the physical element is fully sensorized AND connected in real-time and continuously to the virtual model.

And what does medicine have to do with these advances?

We are all thinking of surgical robotic systems in which the surgeon in charge can “remotely” operate a patient thousands of miles away; it could well be an example of IoT and Industry 4.0 systems. But I go further: the future can go through the creation of “digital twins” of real and particular human organs of each patient by means of imaging techniques, high-resolution scans, etc.; and their subsequent introduction into virtual surgical manipulation systems in which the different surgical techniques, approaches, etc. can be tested in these virtual models until those methods are found safe and improving the vital conditions of the specific patient WITHOUT having to touch the patient himself. Subsequently, the proven techniques would be applied to the patient (sensorized) by means of surgical or similar robotic systems.

In another example, digital mapping of a brain and its “real-world” sensing could be used to create a digital twin and prepare electrostimulation treatments or surgical approaches and evaluate and assess the effects of those treatments and approaches on the brain structure BEFORE applying them to the patient.

Science fiction or next reality? What do you think?

Greetings