Ryan Antel1, Samira Abbasgholizadeh-Rahimi2, Elena Guadagno3, Jason M Harley4, Dan Poenaru5. 1. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Electronic address: ryan.antel@mail.mcgill.ca. 2. Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada; Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Electronic address: samira.rahimi@mcgill.ca. 3. Harvey E. Beardmore Division of Pediatric Surgery, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Center and McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Electronic address: elena.guadagno@muhc.mcgill.ca. 4. Department of Experimental Surgery, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), Montreal, Canada; Institute for Health Sciences Education, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Electronic address: jason.harley@mcgill.ca. 5. Harvey E. Beardmore Division of Pediatric Surgery, Montreal Children's Hospital, McGill University Health Center and McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Electronic address: dan.poenaru@mcgill.ca.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: While the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) technologies in medicine has been significant, their application to doctor-patient communication is limited. As communicating risk is a challenging, yet essential, component of shared decision-making (SDM) in surgery, this review aims to explore the current use of AI and VR in doctor-patient surgical risk communication. METHODS: The search strategy was prepared by a medical librarian and run in 7 electronic databases. Articles were screened by a single reviewer. Included articles described the use of AI or VR applicable to surgical risk communication between patients, their families, and the surgical team. RESULTS: From 4576 collected articles, 64 were included in this review. Identified applications included decision support tools (15, 23.4%), tailored patient information resources (13, 20.3%), treatment visualization tools (17, 26.6%) and communication training platforms (19, 29.7%). Overall, these technologies enhance risk communication and SDM, despite heterogeneity in evaluation methods. However, improvements in the usability and versatility of these interventions are needed. CONCLUSIONS: There is emerging literature regarding applications of AI and VR to facilitate doctor-patient surgical risk communication. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: AI and VR hold the potential to personalize doctor-patient surgical risk communication to individual patients and healthcare contexts.
OBJECTIVES: While the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) technologies in medicine has been significant, their application to doctor-patient communication is limited. As communicating risk is a challenging, yet essential, component of shared decision-making (SDM) in surgery, this review aims to explore the current use of AI and VR in doctor-patient surgical risk communication. METHODS: The search strategy was prepared by a medical librarian and run in 7 electronic databases. Articles were screened by a single reviewer. Included articles described the use of AI or VR applicable to surgical risk communication between patients, their families, and the surgical team. RESULTS: From 4576 collected articles, 64 were included in this review. Identified applications included decision support tools (15, 23.4%), tailored patient information resources (13, 20.3%), treatment visualization tools (17, 26.6%) and communication training platforms (19, 29.7%). Overall, these technologies enhance risk communication and SDM, despite heterogeneity in evaluation methods. However, improvements in the usability and versatility of these interventions are needed. CONCLUSIONS: There is emerging literature regarding applications of AI and VR to facilitate doctor-patient surgical risk communication. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: AI and VR hold the potential to personalize doctor-patient surgical risk communication to individual patients and healthcare contexts.