Adler Stephan O, Hery Daniela, Groen Eduard C, Stadlbauer Jean, Ahrens Theresa D
Fraunhofer Institut für Experimentelles Software Engineering IESE, Fraunhofer-Platz 1, 67663, Kaiserslautern, Deutschland.
Urologie. 2025 Jul 21. doi: 10.1007/s00120-025-02637-y.
The healthcare sector is doubly affected by the climate crisis. On the one hand, the number of disease and injury cases will increase due to various effects such as heatwaves or natural disasters, further burdening the healthcare system. On the other hand, the healthcare sector itself significantly contributes to the emissions that exacerbate the climate crisis. A seemingly unsolvable vicious circle. That is why the present article discusses the relationship between digital health and sustainability in healthcare. Digital innovations such as telemedicine, digital diagnostics, or the use of artificial intelligence can increase efficiency and thus significantly relieve the burden on medical professionals. For the advantages of these technologies to outweigh inherent disadvantages like their high energy demand, digital and sustainable transformations must be addressed simultaneously. This so-called "twin transformation" shows that it can even unleash synergies. Therefore, this article describes interesting technological approaches and current research topics such as digital twins of patients and their sustainable design for healthcare. In addition, examples specific to urology are presented.
医疗保健部门受到气候危机的双重影响。一方面,由于热浪或自然灾害等各种影响,疾病和伤害病例的数量将会增加,这将进一步加重医疗保健系统的负担。另一方面,医疗保健部门本身对加剧气候危机的排放有重大贡献。这似乎是一个无法解决的恶性循环。这就是为什么本文讨论数字健康与医疗保健可持续性之间的关系。远程医疗、数字诊断或人工智能的应用等数字创新可以提高效率,从而显著减轻医疗专业人员的负担。为了使这些技术的优势超过其高能源需求等固有劣势,必须同时进行数字转型和可持续转型。这种所谓的“双重转型”表明,它甚至可以产生协同效应。因此,本文描述了有趣的技术方法和当前的研究课题,如患者数字孪生及其医疗保健的可持续设计。此外,还介绍了泌尿外科的具体实例。