Digital twins in ophthalmology: Concepts, applications, and challenges

Recent advances in digital technologies have unlocked unprecedented opportunities for high-fidelity simulations of complex biological systems.1 Digital twins (DTs), which are dynamic digital replicas of physical entities, that mirror their behavior in real time, are poised to revolutionize medicine by enabling predictive modeling of disease progression and personalized interventions.2 The eye, with its unique anatomical and physiological features such as optical transparency, immune privilege, and accessibility to non-invasive high-resolution imaging, emerges as an ideal frontier for DT innovation. As research in ophthalmic DTs accelerates, an understanding of their foundational principles, clinical applications, and unresolved challenges is urgently needed (Fig. 1).