New AI model estimates cancer survival rate based on face photos
Radiation oncologist Raymond Mak says physicians need better ways to evaluate patients before recommending treatments like radiation, surgery or systemic therapy.
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Researchers from Mass General Brigham in Boston have developed a new Artificial Intelligence model that may offer greater insight into health and cancer survival.
Medical officials say the model can estimate biological age and survival chances for cancer patients with just a photo of one’s face.
The model was trained using more than 40 million facial images. An evaluation study demonstrated the technology’s efficacy, proving that cosmetic changes like facial surgery and Botox had no impact on performance.
“To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that an AI model can directly predict cancer survival from a simple photograph,” explained Hugo Aerts, PhD, co-senior author and Director of AIM at Mass General Brigham.
Radiation oncologist Raymond Mak says physicians need better ways to evaluate patients before recommending treatments like radiation, surgery or systemic therapy.
He says the goal of the model is to “make face photograph-based health assessment more quantitative, consistent and scalable so it can support personalized treatment decisions.”
Mass General Brigham says the development team is expanding research through an online study open to the public. For more information, click here.
