Imagine every human on earth having an avatar that is not merely a digital twin but also a physical reproduction of tissue or organ that can be explored ex vivo. If one heart stops working due to disease or old age, the heart of the digital twin is ready to step up.
Or, imagine a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer. Instead of chemotherapy or radiation, clinicians redesign human cells ex vivo that can be returned to the body to sense the cancer and respond with the killing of tumor cells, release of inflammatory payloads or bioluminescence to help guide surgical removal.
These may sound like science fiction at the moment, but they are examples given by a group of 50 international biomedical engineering experts who believe these to be possible thanks to rapidly progressing innovations and technologies.
“The 21st century is witnessing a paradigm shift in human health and medicine. Engineering of entirely unforeseen devices, sensors and technologies have given rise to a deeper understanding of human physiology and pathophysiology. We are in the unprecedented position to translate the knowledge from multiscale myriad measurements into actionable outcomes,” write the experts in their new white paper published in IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology.
After months of in-depth discussions and two days in a workshop, the experts have identified five “grand challenges” they believe can have the greatest impact on the field of engineering and medicine in the next decades or century.
The grand challenges are:
- A new discipline called “Accumedicine,” through creation of avatars of cells, tissues, organs and whole humans
- Development of smart and responsive devices for human function augmentation
- Exocortical technologies to understand brain function and treat neuropathologies
- The development of approaches to harness the human immune system for health and wellness
- New strategies to engineer genomes and cells
In the paper, each challenge is framed into five topics to explain the current needs and existing gaps. The topics are: social needs, challenges, enabling technologies, multidisciplinary teams and core competencies.
“This paper is an example of both the ‘Convergence Revolution’ in biology and the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution,’” said study co-author Jianyi “Jay” Zhang, M.D., chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a leader in heart tissue engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The Convergence Revolution, as outlined in an MIT white paper in 2011, is where the “tools, methods and concepts and processes of chemistry, physics, engineering, computer science, material sciences and engineering are increasingly used in biological research—and in which, conversely, life scientists’ understanding of complex evolutionary systems influences physical science and engineering.”
MIT calls the current Convergence Revolution, begun in 2009, the third in biology since the mid-20th century—the first beginning with the 1953 description of DNA by Watson and Crick, and the second beginning with the DNA sequencing of the entire human genome.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as described by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, is “a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.” Schwab says the First Industrial Revolution, beginning in 1784, used water and steam power to mechanize production. The Second, beginning in 1870, used electric power to create mass production. The Third, beginning in 1969, used electronics and information technology to automate production.
“The speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent,” Schwab wrote. “When compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace. Moreover, it is disrupting almost every industry in every country.”
The current study authors say two major factors will determine if these future predictions unfold: the ability to build inter- and trans-disciplinary collaborations and expertise, and the training of an entirely novel generation of professionals who can adapt technology (devices and sensors), measurements, data analytics and systems-level integration.
“In addition, funding agencies and organizations will have to explore multidisciplinary research involving multiple domains of expertise and team science collaborations,” the experts conclude.