Armed with a computer screen and mouse instead of a scalpel in an operating theater, cardiologist Benjamin Meder carefully places the electrodes of a pacemaker in a beating digital heart.

Using this "digital twin," which mimics the electrical and physical properties of the cells in the heart of patient No. 7497, Meder runs simulations before operating to see if the pacemaker can keep the sufferer of congestive heart failure alive.

The twin digital heart, which was developed by Siemens Healthineers, is one example of how medical device makers are using artificial intelligence to help doctors make more precise diagnoses as medicine enters an increasingly personalized age.