3D Slicer for African Scientists: Enabling AI for Health

The 3D Slicer medical image computing platform is used in biomedical research worldwide. However, the development of 3D Slicer extensions is primarily designed for English. Additionally, the application lacks support for right-to-left languages like Arabic. Our proposed project will build infrastructure for developing 3D Slicer extensions in non-English languages and leverage customized Large Language Models (LLM) to simplify interface translation. Furthermore, we will organize events to support African developers in utilizing these new tools. This effort will empower researchers worldwide, especially in Africa, to build biomedical research tools for diseases afflicting local populations. For example, researchers in Senegal plan to develop AI-based 3D Slicer extensions to diagnose mycetoma, a disease endemic to poorer regions. The proposed project will enable them to develop a prototype extension for AI-based mycetoma diagnosis in French, and to utilize our LLM to distribute it to Arabic-speaking users. The project brings together medical imaging specialists, data scientists, and surgeons from the US, Senegal, Mauritania, and Canada. By empowering African scientists to create and distribute 3D Slicer extensions in any language, we aim to foster international collaboration and address global health challenges. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Open source software, Large Language Models, Mycetoma, Software Internationalization and Localization