V-Lingo: a VinUni spin-off technology breaking down language barriers in hospitals

Project overview

V-Lingo was developed by scientists at VinUniversity, trialled at several international conferences hosted by VinUni and evaluated for translation quality at Vinmec Da Nang and Vinmec Nha Trang.

• Developer: VinUni-Illinois Smart Health Center, VinUniversity.
• Expert partners: Vinmec Research Institute of Stem Cell and Gene Technology (VRISG); VinUniversity.
• Implementing hospital: Vinmec Da Nang International General Hospital.
• Fields: language AI · digital health · hospital operations.
• Core technologies: speech recognition, natural language processing, real-time machine translation, medical text summarisation.

The problem to solve

Vietnam increasingly attracts visitors and foreign residents, so the number of international patients keeps rising. Every day Vinmec Da Nang receives many patients from the UK, the US, Russia, Australia, France and elsewhere. Medical interpreters are limited, often available only at certain hours or in certain departments, and costly. Language barriers arise at every touchpoint, from describing symptoms to collecting medicines and paying.

• Risk of clinical miscommunication: misunderstood symptoms, history or allergies can lead to wrong diagnosis and treatment.
• Dense terminology: diagnoses, drug names and orders must be translated precisely.
• Time pressure: doctors, pharmacists and cashiers serve many patients and cannot wait for interpreters.
• Documentation burden: after an interpreted consultation, doctors still have to write up the record themselves.

The solution: four touchpoints, one platform

V-Lingo provides two-way real-time speech translation with a medical glossary configurable by specialty.

• Consultation room (doctor, patient): each side speaks their own language and V-Lingo translates almost instantly; patients describe symptoms, history, current medicines and allergies; doctors ask questions and explain diagnosis and treatment. Value: accurate history-taking without depending on an interpreter.
• Pharmacy counter (pharmacist, patient): explaining dose, timing, storage, side effects and interactions; patients can ask back at once in their own language. Value: clear medication counselling and fewer errors.
• Cashier desk (cashier, patient): explaining hospital fees, service charges, insurance benefits and payment methods. Value: transparent costs and faster processing.
• Record summarisation (doctor): the consultation is saved as a bilingual transcript and summarised into a structured report covering reason for visit, symptoms, history, allergies and what was discussed; the doctor reviews and edits before it enters the medical record. Value: less documentation time, complete and consistent records.

Validated in two stages

V-Lingo was validated first at academic events and then directly in the hospital setting.

• Academic events: successfully trialled at several international conferences hosted by VinUni, notably the international conference “Exosome Applications in Diagnosis, Treatment and Aesthetic Medicine”; the system translated English–Vietnamese in both directions almost instantly, with high accuracy on complex medical terms.
• Hospital setting: tested at Vinmec Da Nang and Vinmec Nha Trang for translation quality and accuracy of clinical terminology in real conversations; rated highly by doctors, staff and hospital leaders, providing the basis for routine deployment.

Expected value

The benefits below are expected; outcomes will be measured and updated when data are available.

• For patients: understanding and being understood at every step, with more confidence throughout their care.
• For clinical staff: communicating independently of interpreter schedules, with less time spent on documentation.
• For the hospital: serving more international patients, standardising communication quality and keeping a full record of exchanges.

Safe deployment principles

V-Lingo supports communication; it does not replace clinical judgement.

• Doctors remain responsible for the final content of the medical record.
• Sensitive or legally significant conversations, such as procedural consent or breaking bad news, follow a separate confirmation process, including a human interpreter when needed.
• Audio and transcripts are handled under personal data protection rules, with patient notice and consent.

Planned roadmap

From November 2026 V-Lingo is being deployed at Vinmec Da Nang International General Hospital, the platform’s first routine use in a hospital. It will serve consultations, the pharmacy counter and the cashier desk; the summarisation feature will be rigorously tested and evaluated before deployment.

Status on 8 November 2026

Translation-quality evaluation is complete and routine operation is being prepared. No quantitative outcome data are published here yet.

• Trials at international conferences at VinUni: completed.
• Translation-quality evaluation at Vinmec Da Nang and Vinmec Nha Trang: completed.
• Routine operation at Vinmec Da Nang: from November 2026; to be recorded separately when patient services begin.
• Report summarisation feature: pending testing and evaluation.