Digital Twin Applications in Diabetes Management: Scoping Review.

Abstract

Background: Digital twin (DT) systems have emerged as a promising approach in health care, enabling real-time, patient-specific virtual modeling and personalized interventions. In diabetes care, DTs offer the potential to revolutionize glucose management, decision support, and therapy personalization through integration of real-time and longitudinal patient data.

Objective: This scoping review mapped the current landscape of DT applications in diabetes and synthesized evidence across 13 research questions organized into 7 thematic domains: system design, target conditions, data sources, personalization strategies, intelligence and adaptability, validation methods, and implementation considerations.

Methods: This scoping review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) and JBI methodological guidance for scoping reviews. A literature search was performed in PubMed, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, and Web of Science for studies published up to April 2025; all databases were last searched on June 23, 2025. Eligible studies were original empirical articles in English that described patient-specific DT systems or closely related individualized virtual models applied to diabetes diagnosis, monitoring, management, treatment, or complication-related care. Reviews, editorials, commentaries, theoretical papers without original data, and studies not focused on diabetes were excluded. Furthermore, FSR, MJ, and KK independently screened records and assessed full texts, with disagreements resolved through discussion and, when needed, by EB. Data were charted using a structured framework based on 13 predefined research questions, and were synthesized descriptively and thematically.

Results: Of 208 records identified, 123 underwent title and abstract screening, 39 full texts were assessed for eligibility, and 28 studies were included. Most studies focused on type 1 or type 2 diabetes and used data-driven, hybrid, or simulation-based DT approaches. Common clinical applications included therapeutic control, glucose prediction, decision support, and disease management. Lifestyle data, wearables, continuous glucose monitoring, and electronic health records were the dominant inputs, while personalization relied on adaptive feedback, insulin optimization, and behavior-driven tools. Intelligent features, such as adaptive learning, explainable artificial intelligence, and real-time synchronization, enhanced adaptability, although human oversight was rare. Validation was mainly retrospective or simulation-based, with few clinical trials; reported outcomes included improved hemoglobin A1c, time-in-range, and reduced hypoglycemia. Ethical discussions focused on data privacy, while implementation barriers centered on validation gaps, data quality, and workflow integration.

Conclusions: DT research in diabetes is expanding and shows strong potential for personalized and data-driven care; however, the evidence base remains heterogeneous, inconsistently reported, and limited in prospective clinical validation. Key gaps include standardized definitions, robust real-world evaluation, fairness and governance considerations, and integration into clinical workflows. Future work should prioritize clinically grounded validation, regulatory readiness, and interoperable architectures to support safe, equitable, and scalable implementation.