MedTech to advance to next level; digital twin to improve diagnosis

“Medical tech is likely to advance to the level where the whole body of a person can be recreated virtually and updated in real time. This would allow treatment to be specialised and personalised to each individual based on what their body needs, even if it is long-distance,” said S Krishnan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), while speaking at SEMICON India 2024 on India’s blueprint for AI and semiconductor enabled healthcare.

The secretary floated the idea of a ‘digital twin,’ a virtual model of a person created from data collected through medical devices. Such technology would also improve the ability of doctors to diagnose illnesses.

While he stated that the ministry supported innovations in medical technology, with many of its centres of excellence working in the sector, new technologies need a lot of compute power, various sensors to collect data and processing capacity to properly utilise it.

Krishnan also emphasised that newer technologies should be employed for the cause of human welfare.

Echoing similar sentiments was Robert Califf, Chairman of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In a pre-recorded message he stated that the chief concern in healthcare was economic disparity. “The United States has higher levels of disparity compared to other developed nations, which results in a lower life expectancy,” he said. He also expressed concerns about a growing rural and urban divide.

Califf believed that medtech was the way to solve unequal access to healthcare. “Imagine a world where people are connected digitally and empowered to make better decisions,” said Califf. MEDIANAMA