IIIT Hyderabad and CMC Vellore develop BandhuCare AI to assist cancer patients

The International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Hyderabad, through its Language Technologies Research Centre, has partnered with Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore to develop 'BandhuCare', a multilingual AI companion designed to support cancer patients. Announced on 14 July 2026, the platform helps patients in Hyderabad and across India manage their care by answering queries in eight Indian languages and recording daily symptoms to assist clinicians between hospital visits.

BandhuCare represents the latest outcome of a long-standing partnership between CMC Vellore and IIIT Hyderabad's Language Technologies Research Centre (LTRC). The collaboration originally began when CMC approached the Hyderabad-based institute for assistance in translating patient information sheets and consent documents into various Indian languages to help hospitals communicate complex medical information.

Unlike standard consumer AI assistants, BandhuCare was developed after years of working closely with oncology patients to address gaps in healthcare delivery that occur between hospital visits.

To ensure safety and correctness in the healthcare domain, the AI companion utilizes retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). Rather than searching the internet, the system only answers queries using information that has been carefully curated and verified by clinicians.

The platform also introduces a journaling feature to capture the everyday experiences of patients. Users can record simple diary entries, such as vomiting or dry mouth, through text or voice notes. Over time, the application creates a summary of these events, providing clinicians with a clear record of what occurred between hospital consultations.

Currently, the platform supports eight Indian languages. Patients can ask questions using text or voice in their preferred language, and the system delivers responses in both speech and written text.

Prof Dipti Misra Sharma, who has led machine translation efforts at IIIT Hyderabad for decades, stated that the team realised there was tremendous scope for language technology to make a difference in India's healthcare sector, a domain that was previously unexplored.