The Digital Twin: A Potential Solution for the Personalized Diagnosis and Treatment of Musculoskeletal System Diseases

Abstract

Due to the high prevalence and rates of disability associated with musculoskeletal system diseases, more thorough research into diagnosis, pathogenesis, and treatments is required. One of the key contributors to the emergence of diseases of the musculoskeletal system is thought to be changes in the biomechanics of the human musculoskeletal system. However, there are some defects concerning personal analysis or dynamic responses in current biomechanical research methodologies. Digital twin (DT) was initially an engineering concept that reflected the mirror image of a physical entity. With the application of medical image analysis and artificial intelligence (AI), it entered our lives and showed its potential to be further applied in the medical field. Consequently, we believe that DT can take a step towards personalized healthcare by guiding the design of industrial personalized healthcare systems. In this perspective article, we discuss the limitations of traditional biomechanical methods and the initial exploration of DT in musculoskeletal system diseases. We provide a new opinion that DT could be an effective solution for musculoskeletal system diseases in the future, which will help us analyze the real-time biomechanical properties of the musculoskeletal system and achieve personalized medicine.