An Agent-Based Architecture of the Digital Twin for an Emergency Department

Abstract

The concept of Digital Twin (DT) seems promising to improve the management of patient pathways in Emergency Departments (EDs). This article proposes an agent-based architecture of a DT designed for that purpose. The core of this DT is its Information System (IS), which is regularly synchronised on the IS of the Physical Twin (PT). The agents model the ED’s resources (equipment and staff) and patients in the DT and update this information in the DT’s IS. This article shows how such a DT may operate in three modes: (0) “Digital Shadow” to monitor the ED’s current state in real time, (1) “Synchronised DT” to monitor the ED’s current and future states according to a predictive simulation, and (2) “Exploratory DT” in order to perform Monte Carlo simulations of various future states. Mode (1) is the main contribution. This proposition is illustrated in a simulation of the ED in order to demonstrate the capabilities.