Sign Language Recognition System for Deaf Patients: Protocol for a Systematic Review

Individuals with hearing impairments may face hindrances in health care assistance, which may significantly impact the prognosis and the incidence of complications and iatrogenic events. Therefore, the development of automatic communication systems to assist the interaction between this population and health care workers is paramount.

This study aims to systematically review the evidence on communication systems using human-computer interaction techniques developed for deaf people who communicate through sign language that are already in use or proposed for use in health care contexts and have been tested with human users or videos of human users.

A systematic review will be performed based on a literature search in MEDLINE, Web of Science, ACM, and IEEE Xplore as well as top-tiered conferences in the area to identify relevant studies. The inclusion criteria are the description of the development of a sign language recognition system in a health care context and the testing with human users. Independent investigators (LFRO, LRV, and LMMSR) will screen eligible studies, and disagreements will be solved by a senior researcher (MSM). The included papers will undergo full-text screening. A PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) flow diagram will be presented to visually summarize the screening process, ensuring clarity and transparency in presenting the results. Additionally, a comprehensive chart table will be constructed to consolidate essential data related to the key variables extracted from the studies. These results will be meticulously analyzed and presented descriptively, offering insightful interpretations of the information encapsulated within the table.

A preliminary search was performed in April 2024. Researchers concluded the study selection by July 2024. Data extraction, synthesis, report, and recommendations are expected to be finished by February 2025.

This systematic review will identify human-machine systems that enable communication in health services involving deaf patients, presenting the framework that includes usability and application in human contexts. We will present a comprehensive panel of findings, highlighting systems used to tackle communication barriers and offer a narrative comparison of current implementation practices.

PRR1-10.2196/55427.