Multimodal Machine Learning in Image-Based and Clinical Biomedicine: Survey and Prospects

Machine learning (ML), the process of leveraging algorithms and optimization to infer strategies for solving learning tasks, has enabled some of the greatest developments in artificial intelligence (AI) in the last decade, enabling the automated segmentation or class identification of images, the ability to answer nearly any text-based question, and the ability to generate images never seen before. In biomedical research, many of these ML models are quickly being applied to medical images and decision support systems in conjunction with a significant shift from traditional and statistical methods to increasing application of deep learning models. At the same time, the importance of both plentiful and well-curated data has become better understood, coinciding as of the time of writing this article with the incredible premise of OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT-4 engines as well as other generative AI models which are trained on a vast, well-curated, and diverse array of content from across the internet [1]. As more data has become available, a wider selection of datasets containing more than one modality has also enabled growth in the multimodal research sphere. Multimodal data is intrinsic to biomedical research and clinical care.