Israel develops an AI tool to give a voice back to children in the hospital
Clalit-Schneider Children’s Medical Center and Code for Israel have developed an AI-powered tool that generates personalized communication boards in less than five minutes, helping children who cannot speak express their needs, emotions and questions to medical teams and family members.
For children who are unable to speak, communicating even the simplest need can be a major challenge, particularly in a hospital environment. A new artificial intelligence system developed by Clalit-Schneider Children’s Medical Center and the nonprofit organization Code for Israel aims to make that process faster, easier and more accessible.
The system automatically generates personalized, printable communication boards in under five minutes. Tailored to each child’s age, language, gender and background, the boards allow young patients to communicate pain, express emotions, ask questions and participate more actively in decisions concerning their care.
From hours of preparation to just a few minutes
Communication boards are particularly important for children receiving invasive ventilation, those with pre-existing speech, language or voice difficulties, and patients who are unable to write or are too weak to communicate through conventional means.
Until now, preparing an appropriate board could take more than 30 minutes and, in some cases, several hours. The new AI-powered system significantly reduces that preparation time, enabling medical teams to provide children with communication tools more quickly and adapt them to their individual needs.
The boards can also be updated as a child’s condition changes, shared among healthcare professionals and stored in a reusable library. This makes it easier for medical teams to maintain consistent communication with patients throughout their treatment.
Beyond the technological innovation, the initiative addresses a fundamental aspect of pediatric healthcare: ensuring that children who cannot speak are still able to express themselves and participate in their treatment.
Dr. Oshrat Sella Weiss, head of Speech-Language Pathology at Clalit-Schneider Children’s Medical Center, emphasized the importance of restoring children’s ability to communicate, express their needs and take part in decisions affecting their care.
The tool was developed by volunteers from Code for Israel in collaboration with the Clalit-Schneider Innovation and Research Center, combining technological expertise with the practical experience of healthcare professionals.
Idan Roll, CEO of Code for Israel and a former member of the Knesset and deputy foreign minister, highlighted the potential of technology to expand the capacity of public services and make innovative solutions accessible to people who need them most.
The initiative illustrates how artificial intelligence can be applied to a concrete clinical challenge, beyond automation and administrative efficiency. By reducing the time required to prepare communication tools, the system enables healthcare professionals to focus more quickly on the individual needs of young patients.
For children who cannot speak, the ability to communicate pain, ask a question or express an emotion can make a meaningful difference during hospitalization. In this context, AI offers more than a technical improvement: it helps preserve children’s ability to participate in their own care and ensures that their voices remain part of the treatment process.
Caroline Haïat
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