About BRAINTWIN

Project Overview

BRAINTWIN (Brain Research through Advanced INTegration with Wide-scale Intelligent Networks) is a four-year research project developing digital twin technology for precision neurology.

In neurology, where heterogeneity of disease obstructs conventional methods, digital twin technology offers a paradigm shift. For primary brain tumors (gliomas, meningiomas, and primary CNS lymphomas) and cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), diseases with unpredictable courses and variable treatment outcomes, BRAINTWIN offers a novel architecture for patient-specific digital twin generation.

Context and Justification

Current approaches based on population statistics and limited biomarkers fail to account for individual disease courses. There is no reliable tool to estimate recurrent stroke risk or cognitive decline in SVD patients. Personalized glioma and lymphoma treatment is made challenging by their molecular heterogeneity.

BRAINTWIN brings together AI-driven modeling and multimodal data fusion (neuroimaging, histopathology, clinical data, and omics) to simulate disease development and treatment response, creating a “virtual patient” for each real patient.

Research Objectives

• Develop explainable multimodal fusion models using foundation models and cross-attention transformers
• Implement resilient federated learning for GDPR-compliant training across hospital networks
• Apply innovative generative modeling for longitudinal disease trajectory prediction
• Validate digital twins clinically in neuro-oncology and cerebrovascular disease
• Release open-source software and benchmark datasets for the research community

Expected Outcomes