Bridging gaps in health artificial intelligence: challenges in MDPI research articles

Abstract

Technological advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have transformed healthcare by improving early disease detection, personalized treatment, predictive analytics, and clinical decision support systems. However, AI adoption in healthcare faces critical challenges, including data privacy concerns, algorithmic bias, regulatory barriers, usability issues, and system interoperability. Addressing these issues requires standardized regulations, ethical frameworks, and interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure responsible AI integration. This study systematically analyzes research trends in health AI over the past six years through a systematic literature review (SLR) and a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer. The review focuses on Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) journal articles to identify key contributors, emerging trends, and research gaps in AI-driven healthcare. Findings highlight dominant research areas, including machine learning for diagnosis, AI-driven hospital management, and predictive analytics, while exposing persistent challenges such as a lack of standardized AI models, ethical concerns, and accessibility disparities. By mapping the research landscape, this study provides evidence-based insights and recommendations to address AI adoption barriers, improve transparency, and guide future research in healthcare AI. The results contribute to developing a more equitable, efficient, and trustworthy AI-driven healthcare system.