Artificial intelligence in kidney transplantation: a 30-year bibliometric analysis of research trends, innovations, and future directions

Kidney transplantation is the definitive treatment for end-stage renal disease (ESRD), yet challenges persist in optimizing donor-recipient matching, postoperative care, and immunosuppressive strategies. This study employs bibliometric analysis to evaluate 890 publications from 1993 to 2023, using tools such as CiteSpace and VOSviewer, to identify global trends, research hotspots, and future opportunities in applying artificial intelligence (AI) to kidney transplantation. Our analysis highlights the United States as the leading contributor to the field, with significant outputs from Mayo Clinic and leading authors like Cheungpasitporn W. Key research themes include AI-driven advancements in donor matching, deep learning for post-transplant monitoring, and machine learning algorithms for personalized immunosuppressive therapies. The findings underscore a rapid expansion in AI applications since 2017, with emerging trends in personalized medicine, multimodal data fusion, and telehealth. This bibliometric review provides a comprehensive resource for researchers and clinicians, offering insights into the evolution of AI in kidney transplantation and guiding future studies toward transformative applications in transplantation science.