Groundbreaking medical technology with the digital twin

The Challenge

In the medical field, medical devices are increasingly interconnected to improve patient care. The SDC (Service-oriented Device Connectivity, IEC 11073) standard enables communication and interoperability between different devices in the OR or at the patient’s bedside, such as ventilators, infusion pumps, and monitors, regardless of the manufacturer. One challenge here is that the SDC standard is not designed for long-term storage of control data, which makes it difficult to track alarm situations and operating data. Without this “memory”, important information for maintenance and error analysis is lost.

How we helped

To solve the problem of the lack of data, we have expanded the SDC network to include intelligent data storage and analysis using the Asset Administration Shell (AAS). For each SDC-enabled medical device in the OR, we developed a virtual digital twin that stores alarms, operating states and device details in real time. This creates a complete history of device interactions, enabling early maintenance and avoiding potential issues. In addition, automatic notifications are triggered when errors occur or thresholds are exceeded. This facilitates an intelligent management of medical devices in the clinical environment with a wide range of benefits in areas such as predictive maintenance, logistics and investment planning.

Together with ICCAS, we are continuing to work on the development of the pilot application to integrate AAS submodels for service, maintenance, mobile applications and digital user information (eIFU).

Technologies