Chatbot for Health Care and Oncology Applications Using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Systematic Review

Lu Xu; Leslie Sanders; Kay Li; James C L Chow

doi:10.2196/27850

Chatbot for Health Care and Oncology Applications Using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Systematic Review

JMIR Cancer. 2021 Nov 29;7(4):e27850. doi: 10.2196/27850.

Authors

Lu Xu^{1

2}, Leslie Sanders³, Kay Li⁴, James C L Chow^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
² Department of Medical Biophysics, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
³ Department of Humanities, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Department of English, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁵ Department of Medical Physics, Radiation Medicine Program, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁶ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

PMID: 34847056
PMCID: PMC8669585
DOI: 10.2196/27850

Abstract

Background: Chatbot is a timely topic applied in various fields, including medicine and health care, for human-like knowledge transfer and communication. Machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence, has been proven particularly applicable in health care, with the ability for complex dialog management and conversational flexibility.

Objective: This review article aims to report on the recent advances and current trends in chatbot technology in medicine. A brief historical overview, along with the developmental progress and design characteristics, is first introduced. The focus will be on cancer therapy, with in-depth discussions and examples of diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, patient support, workflow efficiency, and health promotion. In addition, this paper will explore the limitations and areas of concern, highlighting ethical, moral, security, technical, and regulatory standards and evaluation issues to explain the hesitancy in implementation.

Methods: A search of the literature published in the past 20 years was conducted using the IEEE Xplore, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and OVID databases. The screening of chatbots was guided by the open-access Botlist directory for health care components and further divided according to the following criteria: diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, support, workflow, and health promotion.

Results: Even after addressing these issues and establishing the safety or efficacy of chatbots, human elements in health care will not be replaceable. Therefore, chatbots have the potential to be integrated into clinical practice by working alongside health practitioners to reduce costs, refine workflow efficiencies, and improve patient outcomes. Other applications in pandemic support, global health, and education are yet to be fully explored.

Conclusions: Further research and interdisciplinary collaboration could advance this technology to dramatically improve the quality of care for patients, rebalance the workload for clinicians, and revolutionize the practice of medicine.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; cancer therapy; chatbot; communication; diagnosis; ethics; health; machine learning; medical biophysics; medicine; mobile phone.

©Lu Xu, Leslie Sanders, Kay Li, James C L Chow. Originally published in JMIR Cancer (https://cancer.jmir.org), 29.11.2021.

Publication types

Review