IIIT-H Helps Build AI That Bridges Info Gap Between Cancer Patients And Doctors
The platform currently supports eight Indian languages through text and voice using IIIT Hyderabad’s language technologies. It also includes a symptom journal that lets patients record daily experiences, helping doctors receive a clearer picture of what happened between visits instead of relying on memory alone.
HYDERABAD: Cancer patients often leave hospitals with questions that surface only after they return home, but a new multilingual artificial intelligence (AI) platform developed by Christian medical college (CMC), Vellore, and the international institute of information technology Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad) aims to bridge that gap by answering routine queries in patients’ own languages while helping doctors understand symptoms that develop between appointments.
Called BandhuCare, the platform allows patients to speak or type naturally about symptoms such as pain, swallowing difficulty or dry mouth. Instead of simply recording responses, the AI converts everyday conversations into structured clinical information that doctors can review before the next consultation.
“BandhuCare isn’t designed to diagnose diseases or recommend treatments but to answer routine questions, explain symptoms patients commonly experience and guide patients back to their healthcare team whenever clinical intervention is needed,” Prof. Dipti Misra Sharma of IIIT Hyderabad’s language technologies research centre said.
Unlike general-purpose AI chatbots, the system draws only from hospital-approved medical information. “The answer comes from clinically verified guidance and not some generic online advice. Before any response reaches the patient, another AI layer checks whether it truly comes from the approved knowledge base,” said Dr Hannah Mary Thomas, scientist and lead of the quantitative imaging research and AI lab at CMC.
The platform currently supports eight Indian languages through text and voice using IIIT Hyderabad’s language technologies. It also includes a symptom journal that lets patients record daily experiences, helping doctors receive a clearer picture of what happened between visits instead of relying on memory alone.
Dr Balu Krishna, professor and head of radiation oncology at CMC, said patients often leave consultations with unanswered questions, while language barriers further limit access to reliable information. “We want technology to adapt to patients rather than the other way round,” Dr Thomas added.
