A method for providing a virtual age estimation for predicting the remaining lifetime of a device of a given type, comprises the steps of monitoring a predetermined number of significant parameters of respective ones of a training set of devices of the given type, the parameters contributing respective wear increments, determining coefficients of a radial basis function neural network for modeling the wear increments determined from the training set operated to failure and whereof the respective virtual ages are normalized substantially to a desired norm value, deriving from the radial basis function neural network a formula for virtual age of a device of the given type, and applying the formula to the significant parameters from a further device of the given type for deriving wear increments for the further device.