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digital twin Revolutionizes Operating Room Efficiency

Saint-Etienne, France – The Mutualist clinic, in collaboration with scientific teams from the Saint-Etienne Mines school, is pioneering a groundbreaking approach to surgical scheduling adn patient management with the progress of a “digital twin” for its operating rooms. This innovative virtual replica aims to optimize real-time decision-making, mitigate disruptions, and enhance the overall patient and staff experience.Operating rooms are complex, high-demand environments where even minor deviations can have notable ripple effects. The current system grapples with challenges such as patients arriving unprepared (not on an empty stomach) or unexpected patient absences, leading to costly downtime and logistical nightmares. The digital twin seeks to address these issues by providing a dynamic, virtual representation of the entire operating suite.

“Operating blocks are demanding technical platforms,” explains Marie-Paule Bourbon, director of the technical set at the Mutualist clinic. “They are expensive due to the equipment and qualified personnel. An hour of unused block time carries a significant cost. Our goal with this tool is to optimize the flow and care process as much as possible.”

The digital twin will enable real-time supervision of operations, identification of bottlenecks, and simulation of the impact of potential disruptions. Dr.François Dufour, an anesthesiologist, highlights the need for such a tool: “An intervention that takes four hours rather of two will cause delays. An emergency is added to the operating program. What do we do? We need a computer tool that alerts us to hazards so we can better anticipate and reorganize.”

Beyond optimizing organizational flow, the project also focuses on creating a digital twin for individual patients. This virtual patient model will simulate personalized care pathways, anticipating key steps and optimizing management. Factors such as hospitalization status, ambulatory nature of the procedure, patient characteristics (mobility, general condition, obesity), and their impact on care duration will be considered.

“Will the patient be hospitalized? Is it an ambulatory intervention? What are their characteristics? Their mobility? Their general condition? Are they obese? How do these characteristics impact their care path? What is the time spent at each stage? On the operating table? In recovery?” questions Professor Profit Xie from the School of mines. His scientific teams are developing a prototype management software to test improvement scenarios in real-world conditions.

This enterprising project, co-financed by the Digital health Fund, represents a significant leap forward in healthcare management, promising to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve the quality of care for both patients and medical professionals.While currently in the theoretical phase, the potential impact of this digital twin technology on the future of operating room operations is immense.