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Digital twin applications in healthcare for people living with disability
David B Olawade1, Saria Almarzook2, Muyiwa Ademola Ogunbona3
1Department of Allied and Public Health, School of Health, Sport and Bioscience, University of East London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Research and Innovation, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, Gillingham ME7 5NY, United Kingdom; Department of Public Health, York St John University, London, United Kingdom.
Background:
Digital twin technology represents a transformative innovation in healthcare, creating virtual replicas of physical entities that enable real-time monitoring, prediction, and personalised intervention. People living with disability face multifaceted healthcare challenges requiring continuous monitoring, adaptive assistive technologies, and individualised treatment approaches. The convergence of digital twin technology with disability healthcare presents unprecedented opportunities for enhancing quality of life, independence, and clinical outcomes.
Aim:
This review examines the current applications, benefits, challenges, and future directions of digital twin technology in healthcare delivery for people living with disability.
Method:
A narrative review methodology was employed, synthesising literature from academic databases including PubMed, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, and Web of Science. The review encompassed peer reviewed articles, conference proceedings, and technical reports published between 2015 and 2025, focusing on digital twin implementations in disability healthcare contexts.
Results:
Digital twin applications in disability healthcare span multiple domains, including rehabilitation, assistive device optimisation, cognitive support systems, mobility enhancement, and chronic condition management. The technology demonstrates significant potential in personalising interventions, predicting health deteriorations, optimising assistive technologies, and facilitating remote monitoring. Key applications include virtual prosthetic fitting, wheelchair optimisation, rehabilitation progress tracking, and predictive analytics for secondary complications. However, implementation faces challenges including data privacy concerns, technological accessibility, interoperability issues, and cost barriers.
Conclusion:
Digital twin technology offers transformative potential for disability healthcare, enabling personalised, predictive, and preventive care models. Successful implementation requires addressing technological, ethical, and accessibility challenges whilst ensuring equitable access for diverse disability populations. Critical research priorities include large-scale clinical trials, cost-effectiveness analyses, longitudinal outcomes studies, and ethical frameworks balancing surveillance concerns with care benefits.
