Preprint / Version 1

The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Systematic Scoping Review

Authors

  • Hongmin Chu Daecheong Public Health Subcenter, Incheon, South Korea
  • Seunghwan Moon Department of Global Public Health and Korean Medicine Management, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
  • Jeongsu Park Department of College of Korean Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, South Korea
  • Seongjun Bak Department of College of Korean Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, South Korea
  • Youme Ko National Institute for Korean Medicine Development (NIKOM), Seoul, South Korea
  • Bo-Young Youn Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea

Keywords:

artificial intelligence, complementary and alternate medicine, traditional medicine, digital health, CAM

Abstract

Background: The development of artificial intelligence (AI) in the medical field has been growing rapidly. As AI models have been introduced in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), a systematized review must be performed to understand its current status. Objective: To categorize and seek the current usage of AI in CAM. Method: A systematic scoping review was conducted based on the method proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. The three databases, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library, were used to find studies regarding AI and CAM. Only English studies from 2000 were included. Studies without mentioning either AI techniques or CAM modalities were excluded along with the non-peer-reviewed studies. A broad-range search strategy was applied to locate all relevant studies. Results: A total of 32 studies were identified, and three main categories were revealed: 1) acupuncture treatment, 2) tongue and lip diagnoses, and 3) herbal medicine. Other CAM modalities were music therapy, meditation, pulse diagnosis, and TCM syndromes. The majority of the studies utilized AI models to predict certain patterns and find reliable computerized models to assist physicians. Conclusion: Although the results from this review have shown the potential use of AI models in CAM, future research ought to focus on verifying and validating the models by performing a large-scale clinical trial to better promote AI in CAM in the era of digital health. Keywords: artificial intelligence, complementary and alternate medicine, traditional medicine, digital health, CAM