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Digital therapeutics

Guest Editors:
Haleh Ayatollahi: Iran University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Agata Blasiak: National University of Singapore, Singapore
Tejal Lathia: The Hormone and Bone Centre Navi Mumbai, India



BMC Digital Health is presenting our Collection on Digital therapeutics. Digital therapeutics (DTx) are an increasingly important research area in digital health, utilizing clinically approved software to treat, manage, and prevent various diseases. In one example, these tools have the potential to improve patients' access to safe treatments by using digital health technologies such as mhealth apps and wearables to track treatment effectiveness and intervene into patient behaviors. This expanding field requires rigorous evaluation of its efficacy, integration with conventional healthcare, and understanding of regulatory, ethical, and broader healthcare implications.  We highlight contributions from a wide range of research topics including innovative tool development, clinical effects, ethical aspects, integration into traditional healthcare, healthcare economics evaluation, sustainability aspects and the future landscape of the field.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Haleh Ayatollahi: Iran University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Dr Ayatollahi is working as a professor in Iran University of Medical Sciences, and teaching and conducting research in the fields of Medical Informatics, Health Information Technology, and Health Information Management are her main responsibilities. Dr Ayatollahi's collaborations extends across international borders and she has co-authored over 100 articles along with several contributions to book chapters. She holds memberships in organizations including the Middle East and North African Health Informatics Association (MENAHIA) and the Iranian Medical Informatics Association (iRAMI), solidifying her dedication to advancing the field.

Agata Blasiak: National University of Singapore, Singapore                                                                                                     
As Head of Digital Health Innovation at the Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM) and N.1 Institute for Health, National University of Singapore, Dr Blasiak has over a decade of experience in healthcare innovation. She co-developed digital health platforms for decentralized healthcare, earning recognition from the MIT TR35 Asia Pacific and the IT Leader Awards 2021. In addition to her research, Dr Blasiak actively promotes the digital therapeutics field, engaging in public speaking roles, including TEDx Gateway, and serving as a startup advisor. She is a co-author of the book "Medicine without Meds: Transforming Patient Care with Digital Therapies." 

Tejal Lathia: The Hormone and Bone Centre Navi Mumbai, India                                                                                                            
Dr Lathia is a Consultant Endocrinologist working in Navi Mumbai, India. Bringing a decade of clinical experience to her practice, she has worked in several hospitals, including notable institutions such as Navi Mumbai – Fortis Hiranandani Hospital, Apollo Hospitals and Cloud Nine Maternal and Child Healthcare. Dr Lathia is an advisor for Fitterfly, an Amazon funded digital therapeutic company providing customised digital solutions to prevent and treat Type 2 diabetes. Dr Lathia is also passionate about enhancing patient-doctor communication, actively conducts research and publishes within this domain.

About the Collection

BMC Digital Health is presenting our Collection on 'Digital therapeutics'. Digital therapeutics (DTx) are an increasingly important research area in digital health.  They deliver medical interventions directly to patients using evidence-based, clinically evaluated software to treat, manage, and prevent a broad spectrum of diseases and disorders.  

DTx are developed with the aim of increasing patient's accessibility to effective and clinically safe treatments. They use a wide range of digital health technologies, such as mhealth apps and wearable devices to monitor treatment progress and intervene into patients' behavioral patterns over time. They can be used, for example, to encourage patients to follow prescribed treatment regimens, diets, and exercise routines. 

As this field continues to evolve, there is a pressing need to assess how effective these therapies are, their integration into healthcare settings, regulatory and ethical considerations, healthcare economics evaluation, sustainability aspects and implications for the broader healthcare landscape.

Contributions include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Innovation and development – Evidence-based therapeutic interventions driven by high quality software programs to prevent, manage, or treat a medical disorder or disease
  • Digital therapeutics and big data – Using different techniques, such as AI and data mining for data analysis, prediction, etc.
  • Impact of digital therapeutics – Clinical and nonclinical impact of digital therapeutics
  • Regulations of digital therapeutics – Cybersecurity, data confidentiality, privacy and protection as well as ethical considerations 
  • Digital therapeutics reimbursement and commercialization – Health economics evaluation, cost-effectiveness analysis, and business models used for commercialization
  • Integration with traditional healthcare – including  collaborative care models involving both digital and traditional means,  the role of digital therapeutics in preventive care and strategies for successful integration of digital therapeutics  in healthcare settings
  • The future landscape of digital therapeutics, including socio-economic impacts and potential barriers

Please email Alison Cuff, the editor for BMC Digital Health, (alison.cuff@biomedcentral.com) if you would like more information.


Image credit: metamorworks / Getty Images / iStock

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