A Systematic Review on Human Modeling: Digging into Human Digital Twin Implementations

TL;DR

This paper systematically reviews Human Digital Twins (HDTs), exploring their concepts, differences from traditional digital twins, current developments, applications, and future research directions to understand their potential benefits and limitations.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of HDT concepts, existing implementations, and research trends, highlighting their unique features and application areas compared to general digital twins.

Findings

HDTs mirror human body parts, behaviors, or organs for various applications.

Current HDT research emphasizes benefits like improved decision-making and personalized healthcare.

Limitations include technical challenges and ethical considerations.

Abstract

Human Digital Twins (HDTs) are digital replicas of humans that either mirror a complete human body, some parts of it as can be organs, flows, cells, or even human behaviors. An HDT is a human specific replica application inferred from the digital twin (DT) manufacturing concept, defined as a technique that creates digital replicas of physical systems or processes aimed at optimizing their performance and supporting more accurate decision-making processes. The main goal of this paper is to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of current efforts in the HDT field, by browsing its basic concepts, differences with DTs, existing developments, and the distinct areas of application. The review methodology includes an exhaustive review of scientific literature, patents, and industrial initiatives, as well as a discussion about ongoing and foreseen HDT research activity, emphasizing its potential benefits and limitations.