Virtual Human Twins are computational representations of human physiology or pathology designed to support scientific research and, when adequately validated for a defined purpose, healthcare applications.
They may combine mechanistic models with clinical, imaging and biological data across different spatial and temporal scales. As new observations become available, a mature twin may be updated to improve its representation of the system or patient under study.
CancerMate explores an oncology-focused, imaging-informed computational framework for studying tumour dynamics and treatment response. Its present evidence is based mainly on retrospective studies. Independent prospective validation, uncertainty assessment and a clearly defined regulatory pathway remain necessary before clinical decision-support claims can be established.
The Virtual Physiological Human Institute represents the international in silico medicine community and supports collaboration among researchers, clinicians, industry, policymakers and regulators. The European Virtual Human Twins initiative is similarly developing the scientific, technical and governance infrastructure required for trustworthy VHT research and adoption.