Modern tools for taste: a multimodal approach to gustatory function

Taste plays a vital role in dietary behavior, nutritional status, and quality of life, yet gustatory dysfunction remains underrecognized in clinical practice. This issue is especially relevant among aging populations, patients undergoing ear, nose, and throat surgeries, and individuals recovering from post-viral syndromes such as coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Conventional assessment methods rely on subjective self-reporting, limiting diagnostic accuracy and early intervention. This review presents a comprehensive, multimodal framework for objectively evaluating taste function by integrating electrophysiological techniques, neuroimaging modalities, and emerging wearable tools. Electrogustometry offers direct assessment of peripheral taste nerve responses, while functional magnetic resonance imaging, magnetoencephalography, positron emission tomography, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy provide complementary insights into cortical taste processing. These methods capture both real-time activity and longer-term metabolic changes linked to gustatory function. The approach is further enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which enable large-scale data integration, predictive modeling, and personalized treatment strategies. Applications span diverse clinical settings, including pre- and postoperative monitoring, COVID-19 recovery, and clinical trials for regenerative and neuromodulatory therapies. A proposed clinical workflow emphasizes longitudinal tracking, standardization, and AI-enhanced analytics. Together, these advancements pave the way for more precise diagnosis, individualized care, and translational research in gustatory neuroscience and sensory medicine.