Transforming healthcare through digital twin technology: Current evidence and emerging opportunities

Digital Twin (DT) technology, originating from engineering and manufacturing, has emerged as a transformative innovation in healthcare, offering unprecedented capabilities for real-time simulation, personalised medicine, and predictive analytics. A digital twin is a dynamic virtual representation of physical entities that continuously update through data integration, enabling advanced modelling and evidence-based decision-making. This narrative review aims to explore the conceptual foundations, clinical applications, benefits, challenges, and future directions of digital twin technology in healthcare, providing a comprehensive synthesis of current evidence and identifying knowledge gaps for future research. We conducted a narrative review of peer-reviewed literature published between 2010 and 2025. Multiple databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, and Google Scholar were searched using terms related to digital twins, healthcare applications, precision medicine, and predictive analytics. Articles were selected based on relevance, quality, and contribution to understanding DT applications across diverse healthcare domains. Following the application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 74 articles were retained for synthesis. Digital twins demonstrate diverse applications spanning personalised medicine, surgical planning, chronic disease management, hospital operations, and rehabilitation. Evidence suggests improvements in treatment personalisation, predictive capabilities, risk reduction, and patient engagement. However, significant challenges persist, including technical barriers in data integration, ethical concerns regarding privacy and algorithmic bias, regulatory uncertainties, and clinical adoption barriers related to workflow integration and trust. Digital twin technology holds transformative potential for healthcare delivery, enabling predictive and preventive approaches. Realising this potential requires addressing technical, ethical, and regulatory challenges through interdisciplinary collaboration and responsible implementation frameworks.