AI is set to be the powerhouse of future health, diagnostics and medicine. But where does it stand with women’s health? We asked honorary clinical lecturer and author Dr Nicky Keay for her expert insights…
In a world of fast-emerging artificial intelligence, the pressure is on to ensure the tech is capable of equality, diversity and solutions that work for everybody. If it’s to be successful, AI must learn to produce unbiased data and diagnostics in a way which supports and empowers women.
A quick glance into history and we’ll see numerous examples of an unbalanced, dominated sector. Women were even excluded from past medical trials – because their hormone fluctuations showed too many “variables” – but this is just one example of how work is to be done in the future.
To put it simply, AI has its work cut out, if it’s going to empower women. But that’s exactly what it will do according to Dr Keay.
Dr Nicky Keay, speaking to Health Tech World:
“Initially it may seem like a paradox that artificial intelligence (AI) can empower women’s health. On the one hand, providing healthcare tailored to the individual woman is becoming recognised as a priority.
“Yet on the other, there can be some mistrust of an AI “black box” system providing personalised solutions to optimising health.”
Women are indisputably different
“Part of the initial concern about applying AI to women’s health stems from the indisputable fact that women are different to men, not just physically but in terms of physiology and pathophysiology.
“Looking back on how women would be described as presenting with “atypical chest pain” highlights this point.”
She continued: “Women do not experience or display the same clinical features of myocardial ischaemia and infarction as a “typical” man. So, applying AI techniques based on male physiology, to women, is not helpful and potentially harmful.
AI in women’s health
“For female specific areas of health, thankfully we do not encounter the confounding male factor.
“There are inspiring examples of where application of AI to women’s health has helped in the efficiency of clinical care delivery, for example in the interpretation of mammograms and detecting early premalignant changes in cells from the cervix.
“Another area where personalisation of women’s health is becoming more of a priority and one in which I am involved, is that of female hormones.
“Female hormones contribute to many aspects of health, throughout a woman’s lifespan.”
Highlighting hormones
“The Women’s Health Strategy for England, published July 2022, highlights some hormone “flashpoints” around menstrual health and menopause as being two of the key areas that need addressing.
“More women are speaking out about their struggles with menstrual cycles and navigating peri-menopause, the transition to menopause, together with quality of life beyond menopause.
“The clinical significance of the physiological step change in female hormones that occurs at menopause is highlighted in the NHS initiative to “think menopause”.
Dr Keay pointed out that every woman will be different in the timing, concentration and biological response to menstrual cycle hormones.
She continued: “AI techniques can provide the way to combine personal clinical data with medical understanding of female hormone networks.
“Rather than “artificial” intelligence, it is more a case of “augmented” medical intelligence.
“This provides the clinician with enhanced medical detail to be in a better position to deliver personalised advice and appropriate medication, where indicated.
AI will “never replace” doctors
She added: “AI will never replace medical doctors, however applying AI methodologies, based on medical “logic” to women’s health will enable decentralisation and easy access to healthcare for all women, wherever they live.
“This would tie in with the government proposal for women’s health hubs.
“For individual women, AI has the potential to empower each woman with personalised health information.
“Personalisation of healthcare delivery is a prerequisite for women to make informed decisions.
“In this quest to support women’s health through the application of AI, further research and discussion is ongoing, in order to provide validated clinical tools for doctors and the women that they work with.”
As well as a successful CMO, Dr Keay is the author of a book called Hormones, Health and Human Potential – which is a guide to understanding hormones in order to optimise health and performance.
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