<s>
In	B-General_Concept
silico	I-General_Concept
medicine	I-General_Concept
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
computational	O
medicine	O
"	O
)	O
is	O
the	O
application	O
of	O
in	O
silico	O
research	O
to	O
problems	O
involving	O
health	O
and	O
medicine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
direct	O
use	O
of	O
computer	B-Application
simulation	I-Application
in	O
the	O
diagnosis	O
,	O
treatment	O
,	O
or	O
prevention	O
of	O
a	O
disease	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
specifically	O
,	O
in	B-General_Concept
silico	I-General_Concept
medicine	I-General_Concept
is	O
characterized	O
by	O
modeling	B-Application
,	O
simulation	O
,	O
and	O
visualization	O
of	O
biological	O
and	O
medical	O
processes	O
in	O
computers	O
with	O
the	O
goal	O
of	O
simulating	O
real	O
biological	O
processes	O
in	O
a	O
virtual	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
in	O
silico	O
radiation	O
oncology	O
,	O
a	O
precursor	O
of	O
generic	O
in	B-General_Concept
silico	I-General_Concept
medicine	I-General_Concept
was	O
coined	O
and	O
first	O
introduced	O
by	O
G	O
.	O
Stamatakos	O
in	O
Proceedings	O
of	O
the	O
IEEE	O
in	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	B-General_Concept
silico	I-General_Concept
medicine	I-General_Concept
is	O
considered	O
an	O
extension	O
of	O
previous	O
work	O
using	O
mathematical	O
models	O
of	O
biological	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
fields	O
in	O
medicine	O
to	O
use	O
in	O
silico	O
modeling	B-Application
were	O
genetics	O
,	O
physiology	O
and	O
biochemistry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Concurrently	O
the	O
increase	O
in	O
available	O
computational	O
power	O
allowed	O
for	O
modeling	B-Application
of	O
complex	O
systems	O
that	O
were	O
previously	O
impractical	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
numerous	O
reasons	O
why	O
in	B-General_Concept
silico	I-General_Concept
medicine	I-General_Concept
is	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
in	O
silico	O
medical	O
modeling	B-Application
can	O
allow	O
for	O
early	O
prediction	O
of	O
success	O
of	O
a	O
compound	O
for	O
a	O
medicinal	O
purpose	O
and	O
elucidate	O
potential	O
adverse	O
effects	O
early	O
in	O
the	O
drug	O
discovery	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
silico	O
modeling	B-Application
can	O
also	O
provide	O
a	O
humane	O
alternative	O
to	O
animal	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
in	B-General_Concept
silico	I-General_Concept
medicine	I-General_Concept
is	O
exemplified	O
in	O
initiatives	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Virtual	O
Physiological	O
Human	O
by	O
the	O
European	O
Commission	O
and	O
in	O
institutes	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
VPH	O
Institute	O
and	O
the	O
INSIGNEO	O
Institute	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Sheffield	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
additional	O
aim	O
of	O
the	O
Group	O
's	O
research	O
is	O
to	O
simulate	O
oncological	O
clinical	O
trials	O
which	O
would	O
otherwise	O
be	O
too	O
costly	O
or	O
time	O
intensive	O
and	O
to	O
this	O
direction	O
,	O
grid	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
infrastructures	I-Architecture
have	O
been	O
exploited	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
European	O
Grid	O
Infrastructure	O
,	O
to	O
increase	O
the	O
performance	O
and	O
effectiveness	O
of	O
the	O
simulations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2020	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
CADFEM	O
Medical	O
Conference	O
on	O
the	O
topic	O
of	O
in	O
vivo	O
,	O
in	O
vitro	O
,	O
in	O
silico	O
was	O
held	O
with	O
the	O
guiding	O
theme	O
:	O
"	O
The	O
central	O
role	O
of	O
in	B-General_Concept
silico	I-General_Concept
medicine	I-General_Concept
-	O
what	O
it	O
can	O
do	O
and	O
what	O
we	O
need	O
for	O
its	O
practice.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
modeling	B-Application
of	O
human	O
,	O
social	O
,	O
behavioral	O
,	O
and	O
cultural	O
(	O
HSBC	O
)	O
characteristics	O
of	O
patient	O
behavior	O
becomes	O
more	O
sophisticated	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
speculation	O
that	O
virtual	O
patients	O
may	O
replace	O
patient	O
actors	O
in	O
medical	O
school	O
curriculum	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
projects	O
underway	O
that	O
utilize	O
virtual	O
cadavers	O
,	O
computer	B-Application
simulated	I-Application
models	O
of	O
human	O
anatomy	O
based	O
on	O
CT	O
images	O
of	O
real	O
people	O
.	O
</s>
