Exploring Power Dynamics of Healthcare Digital Twins at Home through the Matrix of Domination

In healthcare, a digital twin (DT) refers to a virtual counterpart of a patient, encompassing their health metrics and historical data derived from a blend of medical and self-tracking devices. This emulation integrates medical health informatics with artificial intelligence and simulation, aiming to bolster medical decision-making. Despite the prevailing notion that DTs may enhance personalized patient care, existing research has overlooked societal and ethical dimensions of medical DTs. This preliminary study delves into the power dynamics inherent in medical DTs utilized within home settings. Our main research question is how potential users (citizens/patients) could experience a DT in healthcare in a home setting viewed through the matrix of domination - a sociological concept elucidating how power structures in society maintain the established order. We present findings from a survey that probes into the power dynamics associated with DTs functioning as data-driven medical information and representation systems.