Spatial memory, a fundamental cognitive function, enables individuals to encode, store, and retrieve information about their surroundings. Traditional assessment methods, such as paper-based tests and laboratory paradigms, often lack ecological validity and fail to capture the complexities of real-world navigation. Recent advancements in digital technologies, particularly virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR), have introduced innovative tools for more immersive and accurate spatial memory assessments. VR provides controlled, replicable environments that simulate real-world navigation, while MR enhances engagement by blending virtual elements with physical spaces. This narrative review explores the cognitive mechanisms underlying spatial memory, highlighting the roles of egocentric and allocentric reference frames, as well as the neural substrates involved. The review also examines key factors influencing spatial memory performance, such as age, sex, neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Digital tools such as the virtual Morris water maze and the VR Supermarket Test have been shown to possess enhanced ecological validity and diagnostic potential, particularly in the context of detecting early cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease. However, the field confronts several challenges, including the necessity for standardized protocols, the potential for adverse effects such as cybersickness, and the substantial cost associated with VR and MR systems. Future research directions in this field should include the integration of artificial intelligence for personalized assessments, and the combination of VR and MR tasks with neurophysiological techniques to advance understanding of spatial memory. Standardization, accessibility, and the creation of adaptive assessment for clinical populations will be crucial for optimizing the use of digital technologies in spatial memory research.

The enormous global burden of cancer has created the need to develop cutting-edge strategies for enhancing public education on cancer. Over the years, conventional educational strategies, such as the use of posters and leaflets, have been preferentially employed as public education strategies on oral cancer; however, the use of digital education-based strategies has been largely underutilized. Notably, the use of digital education-based strategies, particularly serious games, has proven to be a superior cancer education strategy, when compared to conventional strategies, due to their rigorous design and features. This commentary discusses serious games as a game changer in cancer education, itemizing their diverse roles in cancer prevention, advocacy, and management. Also, this commentary also detailed those factors that might limit the use and availability of serious games in resource-limited settings.

In recent years, patient engagement has emerged as a cornerstone in clinical decision-making, medical research, and health policy development, with its multifaceted value widely recognized by stakeholders across the healthcare continuum. However, digital health technologies, which are designed to enhance patient engagement, often fall short of their full potential due to developers’ limited understanding of patients’ needs and preferences. This perspective paper argues for adopting a patient-centered approach, emphasizing the critical importance of developers immersing themselves in patient communities to gain richer insights into patients’ lived experiences. Such an approach can lead to improved usability of digital health tools, enhanced user experience, and increased patient motivation, ultimately fostering more effective patient engagement in medical practice. Although challenges persist in the effective collection, analysis, and implementation of user feedback, prioritizing patient engagement remains crucial for optimizing health outcomes and enhancing the overall patient experience. By embracing this approach, developers can bridge the gap between technological innovation and patient needs, promoting more meaningful interactions and ultimately contributing to the advancement of healthcare systems and improved population health.

This narrative review aims to appraise the evidence on artificial intelligence models for early diagnosis and risk stratification of oral cancer, focusing on data modalities, methodology differences, applications in the diagnostic flow and models’ performance. Models for early diagnosis and screening provide non-invasive diagnosis without the need for specialized instruments, which is ideal for early detection as a low-cost system. Supervised learning with well-annotated data provides reliable references for training the models, and therefore, reliable and promising results. Risk prediction models can be built based on medical record data, demographic data, clinical/histopathological descriptors, highly standardized images or a combination of these. Insights on which patients have a greater chance of malignancy development or disease recurrence can aid in providing personalized care, which can improve the patient’s prognosis. Artificial intelligence models demonstrate promising results in early diagnosis and risk stratification of oral cancer.

Artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly influences biomedical scientific writing and clinical practice. The recent article by Fornalik et al. (Explor Digit Health Technol. 2024;2:235–48. doi: 10.37349/edht.2024.00024) explores AI’s capabilities, challenges, and ethical considerations in scientific communication, particularly highlighting tools like ChatGPT and Penelope.ai. This commentary aims to reflect on and expand the key themes presented by Fornalik et al. (Explor Digit Health Technol. 2024;2:235–48. doi: 10.37349/edht.2024.00024), emphasizing AI’s role in auditory healthcare, particularly in otolaryngology and auditory rehabilitation. The discussion is based on a critical review and synthesis of recent literature on AI applications in scientific writing and auditory healthcare. Key technologies such as generative AI platforms, machine learning algorithms, and mobile-based auditory training systems are highlighted. AI has shown promising results in enhancing manuscript preparation, literature synthesis, and peer review workflows. In clinical practice, adaptive AI models have improved cochlear implant programming, leading to up to 30% gains in speech perception accuracy. Mobile apps and telehealth platforms using AI have also improved listening effort, communication confidence, and access to care in remote settings. However, limitations include data privacy concerns, lack of population diversity in datasets, and the need for clinician oversight. AI presents transformative opportunities across biomedical science and healthcare. To ensure its responsible use, interdisciplinary collaboration among clinicians, researchers, ethicists, and technologists is essential. Such collaboration can help develop ethical frameworks that enhance innovation while safeguarding patient well-being and scientific integrity.

Mental healthcare in a range of countries faces challenges, including rapidly increasing demand at a time of restricted access to services, insufficient mental healthcare professionals and limited funding. This can result in long delays and late diagnosis. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help to address these shortcomings is therefore being explored in a range of countries, including the UK. The recent increase in reported studies provides an opportunity to review the potential, benefits and drawbacks of this technology. Studies have included AI-based chatbots for patients with depression and anxiety symptoms; AI-facilitated approaches, including virtual reality applications in anxiety disorders; avatar therapy for patients with psychosis; AI humanoid robot-enhanced therapy, for both children and the isolated elderly in care settings; AI animal-like robots to help patients with dementia; and digital game interventions for young people with mental health conditions. Overall, the studies showed positive effects and none reported any adverse side effects. However, the quality of the data was low, mainly due to a lack of studies, a high risk of bias and the heterogeneity of the studies. Importantly also, longer-term effects were often not evident. This suggests that translating small-scale, short-term trials into effective large-scale, longer-term real-world applications may be a particular challenge. While the use of AI in mental healthcare appears to have potential, its use also raises important ethical and privacy concerns, potential risk of bias, and the risk of unintended consequences such as over-diagnosis or unnecessary treatment of normal emotional experiences. More robust, longer-term research with larger patient populations, and clear regulatory frameworks and ethical guidelines to ensure that patients’ rights, privacy and well-being are protected, are therefore needed.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia and can lead to severe complications such as stroke. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a vital tool in predicting and detecting AF, with machine learning (ML) models trained on electrocardiogram (ECG) data now capable of identifying high-risk patients or predicting the imminent onset of AF. Precision medicine aims to tailor medical interventions for specific sub-populations of patients who are most likely to benefit, utilizing large genomic datasets. Genetic studies have identified numerous loci associated with AF, yet translating this knowledge into clinical practice remains challenging. This paper explores the potential of AI in precision medicine for AF and examines its advantages, particularly when integrated with or compared to genomics. AI-driven ECG analysis provides a practical and cost-effective method for early detection and personalized treatment, complementing genomic approaches. AI-based diagnosis of AF allows for near-certain prediction, effectively relieving cardiologists of this task. In the context of preventive identification, AI enhances the accuracy of predictive models from 75% to 85% when ML is employed. In predicting the exact onset of AF—where human capability is virtually nonexistent—AI achieves a 74% accuracy rate, offering significant added value. The primary advantage of utilizing ECGs over genomic data lies in their ability to capture lifetime variations in a patient’s cardiac activity. AI-driven analysis of ECGs enables dynamic risk assessment and personalized adaptation of therapeutic strategies, optimizing patient outcomes. Genomics, on the other hand, enables the personalization of care for each patient. By integrating AI with ECG and genomic data, truly individualized care becomes achievable, surpassing the limitations of the “average patient” model.

Cholera continues to pose a significant public health challenge in Nigeria, driven by poor sanitation, inadequate water quality, and climatic factors that create favorable conditions for outbreaks. Since the first epidemic in 1972, Nigeria has experienced recurrent outbreaks, with the most severe in 1991, resulting in over 7,000 deaths. Current surveillance systems and diagnostic methods are limited by infrastructural gaps, insufficient skilled personnel, and inadequate reporting, leading to delays in outbreak detection and response. These limitations exacerbate the public health burden, increasing mortality and the economic impact of cholera epidemics. This paper explores the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to address these challenges. AI technologies, including predictive modeling and ML algorithms such as random forests and convolutional neural networks (CNNs), can analyze diverse data sources—such as meteorological, environmental, and health records—to detect patterns and predict outbreaks. Case studies from other cholera-endemic regions, where AI achieved high predictive accuracy, demonstrate its transformative potential. By integrating AI into Nigeria’s public health infrastructure, early detection and response can be improved, resource allocation optimized, and disease transmission minimized. However, challenges such as data quality, standardization, and infrastructural deficits must be addressed. Multi-sectoral collaboration involving public health authorities, AI specialists, and policymakers is essential for the successful deployment of these technologies. This article concludes that AI-powered cholera surveillance systems have the potential to revolutionize public health outcomes, reducing cholera-related morbidity and mortality in resource-limited settings like Nigeria.

This study aims to assess a new mobile application (app)’s efficacy in raising oral cancer awareness among older adults through educational videos and serious games. The app, named TEGO^® (Tele-platform of Geriatric and Dental Specialties), with a video about oral cancer prevention, oral-self-examination, and serious gaming elements, like trivia and word search puzzles to reinforce the acquired knowledge was developed. Fifty-six patients, aged 60 to 80 years, were randomly selected from the Dental Clinic of the University of Chile and invited to use the app on their personal smartphones. Knowledge and attitudes were evaluated before two and four weeks after use. Oral self-examination practices were measured with a checkup guideline. The participation rate was 41.1%, mostly male (52.2%). Before using the app, 30.4% of the participants reported awareness of oral cancer, and none had performed oral self-examinations. Following two weeks after use, there was notable engagement, with 100% of participants utilizing it and responding that they had heard about oral cancer, and 56.5% having practiced an oral self-examination. This last outcome increased to 82.6% in the fourth week. The use of mHealth technologies has the potential as an effective educational tool for disseminating knowledge about oral cancer among older adults.

Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) enables real-time diagnosis of oral cancer and potentially malignant disorders by in vivo microscopic tissue examination. One impediment to the widespread clinical adoption of this technology is the need for operator expertise in image interpretation. Here we review the application of AI to automatic tissue classification of CLE images and discuss the opportunities for integrating this technology to advance the adoption of real-time digital pathology thus improving speed, precision and reproducibility.

The health sector in Yemen has experienced significant challenges due to prolonged conflict and suboptimal governance, making the development of digital health (DH) crucial. This study highlights the urgent need for the strategic implementation of health interventions in a country where fully functional healthcare facilities, low-income levels, damaged infrastructure, and suboptimal governance limit the effectiveness of traditional interventions. It discusses the prioritized step for advancing DH as a root issue that needs to be addressed first and highlights the importance of effective and efficient management of available resources. The development of telecommunication infrastructure is a fundamental pillar for advancing DH in the country. This comes along with consideration of effective management of the available resources and collaborative efforts among all parties, which are critically important to remove restrictions and constraints relevant to the administrative division and fragmentation of the healthcare system and objectively ensure universal coverage of telecommunications and healthcare services nationwide. By leveraging DH technologies (DHTs), Yemen can overcome these obstacles and revolutionize healthcare delivery. Implementing DHTs and related projects can ensure equitable access to high-quality healthcare services, particularly for impoverished individuals. However, the success of these initiatives relies on a well-established supportive policy and regulatory framework, improved public communication systems, targeted strategies, community engagement, and collaboration between medical service providers and community healthcare workers. Awareness campaigns, workshops, research collaborations, and engagement with international organizations are highly recommended to address challenges and foster the growth and development of DH in Yemen.

Somalia’s healthcare system faces significant challenges, including limited infrastructure, a shortage of healthcare professionals (2.5 physicians per 10,000 people), and geographic disparities in access to care, leading to only 35% of the population having access to basic health services. Despite these, Somalia is embracing digital health technologies to address these challenges and to improve healthcare delivery. Telehealth platforms such as Baano and SomDoctor provide remote consultations and specialized care to overcome geographical barriers. mHealth solutions, including Hello! Caafi, leverages Somalia’s expanding telecommunications network to deliver healthcare information and services. The development of an electronic immunization registry demonstrated the role of digital health records in streamlining health services and improving data accuracy. Despite the potential benefits, challenges persist, including limited and unreliable Internet access (27.6% penetration rate), and the need to ensure data privacy and security. Capacity building and digital literacy enhancement among healthcare providers and populations are crucial. Learning from successful digital health initiatives in African countries that have effectively used digital health technologies for medical supply delivery and for improved healthcare access is essential. The roadmap for Somalia emphasizes government leadership, public-private partnerships, context-specific solutions, and investment in digital infrastructure, capacity building, and data privacy measures. This perspective explores current digital health innovations in Somalia and their potential impact on healthcare access and quality, outlining a roadmap for establishing a sustainable digital health ecosystem.

This research provided an in-depth analysis of endoscopic capsules as an innovative application of the Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare. The study revealed the importance of these systems in advancing gastrointestinal diagnostics due to their non-invasive nature and ability to provide comprehensive internal imaging. The work systematically investigated the device’s technical design, power management strategies, communication protocols, and how it performs its secure and efficient operations. Findings from this analysis highlighted the transformative impact of these capsules despite current constraints, such as battery limitations and procedural costs. Ultimately, this wide review confirmed that endoscopic capsules redefine medical diagnostics, fusing patient comfort with innovative technology. Moreover, as developments continue, these devices have promising potential to shape the future of intelligent, interconnected healthcare solutions.