Project researchers publish a chapter in the collective scientific work, “Artificial Intelligence Applied to Nutrition”

Researchers from the Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic, UNEATLANTICO) have published a chapter of high scientific value in the collective work “Artificial Intelligence Applied to Nutrition”, focused on the development and application of chatbots in the field of clinical nutrition, the result of the work carried out in the European project framework E+DietingLab.

Under the title “Application of Chatbots in Clinical Nutrition: The E+Dieting Lab Experience,” the chapter was written by Dr. Iñaki Elío Pascual, Dr. Sandra Sumalla Cano, and Dr. Kilian Tutusaus Pifarré, members of UNEATLANTICO’s Research Group on Foods, Nutritional Biochemistry, and Health. The text contains a detailed review of the technological and methodological advances derived from the E+DietingLab project, aimed at improving practical training in dietetics and nutrition through clinical simulations assisted by artificial intelligence.

The chapter presents the design and validation of a digital tool based on multilingual chatbots, developed using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning technologies. The platform allows interaction with virtual patients in realistic clinical scenarios, aligned with the Nutritional Care Process (NCP), facilitating the acquisition of clinical competencies in educational contexts.

This research is part of the E+DietingLab project, co-financed by the European Union’s Erasmus+ program and coordinated by UNEATLANTICO, which has enabled the implementation and evaluation of this tool in universities in five European countries. The results show its usefulness in the training of future dietitian-nutritionists, especially in contexts where access to face-to-face clinical practice is limited.

The work, directed by Prof. Daniel A. de Luis Román (University of Valladolid), brings together scientific contributions that analyze the impact of artificial intelligence in the field of nutrition and has the support of specialized entities such as the Spanish Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (Sociedad Española de Nutrición Parenteral y Enteral, SENPE) and QoLife Medical, as well as the collaboration of the Artificial Intelligence Center of the University of Valladolid.