Professor Park Sung-min of the Pohang University of Science and Technology POSTECH's Department of IT Convergence Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has developed a technology that can accurately regulate blood pressure using a virtual brain. Professor Park emphasized, "The era of managing hypertension more safely and effectively while reducing dependence on medication will come."
Professor Park's research team and Dr. Lee Ji-ho of Samsung Research have created a "digital twin" that replicates the principles of cardiovascular regulation in the brain, finding clues for treating hypertension. Hypertension, though asymptomatic, is called a "silent killer" as it can lead to serious complications like heart disease and stroke. Patients with hypertension must take medication for life, causing significant discomfort for them.
Recently, instead of medication, there has been neurostimulation that artificially regulates nerve signals to lower blood pressure; however, it has had limitations in precise treatment due to the difficulty in predicting the process of stimulation leading to blood pressure changes accurately.
To address this issue, the research team focused on the solitary nucleus, a brain region responsible for regulating blood pressure. In the solitary nucleus, a "low-dimensional latent space transformation" occurs, where various nerve signals transmitted from the body are compressed into a few key signals. For example, when nerve signals like "blood pressure is high," "the heart is beating fast," or "the blood vessel has narrowed" come in, they are summarized into simple commands like "let's lower the blood pressure" or "let's raise the blood pressure."
The research team successfully implemented this process using digital twin technology. They accurately predicted the effects of the neurostimulation treatment that lowers blood pressure by regulating nerve signals and found clues for designing effective stimulation. Using digital twins, they can also identify neurostimulation patterns that match the individual characteristics of patients.
Additionally, it is possible to calculate neurostimulation that can monitor the patient's physical condition in real time, minimize side effects, and optimize blood pressure. The ability to integrate with existing medical devices is also an advantage, allowing for rapid application in the field.
Professor Park Sung-min noted, "The digital twin-based neurostimulation technology has opened up a way to manage hypertension more safely and effectively by reducing dependence on medication using a brain-computer interface (BCI). This will be a turning point in accelerating the era of personalized treatment for patients."
References
npj Digital Medicine (2025), DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01635-w