A Patent Review of Lung-airway Modeling with Tangential Digital Twin Technology

Background: The digital twin as an integrated technology has been widely used in the medical field. Currently, the application of digital twin technology in the field of respiratory science is mostly theoretical exploration, with less applied technical research. Therefore, this has greatly limited the development of lung-airway models and devices that cope with digital twin technology in clinical settings and has also hindered the development of digital twin technology. Objective: The aim of this study is to propose an effective physical model to simulate the human environment as an efficient means to develop and improve the digital twin technology. Method: A representative set of patents related to physical models of the respiratory tract and lungs is presented, including methods for model building and ways to assess and predict the diagnosis of respiratory diseases. Results: Current patents are analyzed and compared in three aspects: physical models, model building methods, and respiratory disease assessment and prediction. A digital twin modeling approach, including mechanical effects, biological evolution, physiological tissue changes, and physical entity coupling is proposed based on the hardware support involved in rapid prototyping techniques and method patents. The advantages and disadvantages of the existing models are analyzed, and the systematicity, applicability, modeling techniques, and fidelity of the digital twin physical model are discussed. Conclusion: Lung airway models are already based on complete morphological data, but purely physical models cannot reproduce the real environment of the human body. Therefore, in order to reach the heights of digital twins, the intervention of numerical theory and related auxiliary hardware is often required.