Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence tool that analyzes how facial appearance changes over time and can help physicians predict outcomes for oncological diseases. This was reported by Euronews. The new research indicates that such an approach can provide additional information regarding patients’ conditions and their response to treatment.<\/p>\n\n
The study was conducted by researchers from Mass General Brigham in the USA, who developed a system capable of assessing a person’s biological age from just a photograph.<\/p>\n\n
The face is a mirror of the mind. It reflects not only our emotions but the passage of time itself, and as it turns out\u2014the state of our health. Some people appear older than others, despite being the same age. Illness, stress, and lifestyle leave their marks.<\/p>\n\n
A team of scientists in the USA is developing FaceAge\u2014an artificial intelligence tool that can estimate a person’s biological age based on a single photo. Biological age reflects the physiological state of the organism and the aging process, rather than actual chronological age.<\/p>\n\n
This provides researchers with a new perspective on how individuals respond to cancer and its treatment, allowing for an assessment of who has a higher chance of survival and who responds better to therapy.<\/p>\n\n
Using FaceAge, scientists have already established that cancer patients often look approximately five years older than their actual age and that higher biological age scores are associated with poorer survival after treatment.<\/p>\n\n
In the new study, they found that the Face Aging Rate (FAR) metric, which uses photos to measure changes in biological age over time, can serve as a non-invasive biomarker for predicting disease outcomes.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cDeriving the rate of facial aging from multiple routine photographs allows for near real-time tracking of an individual’s health status,\u201d says Raymond Mak, a radiation oncologist at Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute and faculty member in the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine program.<\/p>\n\n
Researchers analyzed photographs of 2,276 patients with various types of cancer who underwent at least two courses of radiation therapy at Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital between 2012 and 2023. The photos were taken as part of routine clinical practice during separate treatment courses.<\/p>\n\n
The results show that facial aging in patients outpaced chronological age by an average of approximately 40%.<\/p>\n\n
Higher FAR values were associated with lower survival rates, with the effect being strongest when photos were taken at intervals of more than two years.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cOur study shows that measuring FaceAge over time can help in more precise personalized treatment planning, better patient information, and determining the frequency and intensity of follow-up in oncology,\u201d Mak added.<\/p>\n\n
The study also calculated another metric\u2014FaceAge Deviation (FAD), which assesses whether a patient looks biologically older or younger than their actual age based on a single photo.<\/p>\n\n
Patients with high values for both FAD and FAR were significantly more likely to have poorer survival outcomes.<\/p>\n\n
However, FAR proved to be a more reliable indicator for long-term prognosis compared to FAD alone, suggesting that dynamic measurements over time are more informative than one-time assessments.<\/p>\n\n
The authors noted that combining FAR with the initial FAD value could provide a more precise and detailed assessment of a patient’s changing health status.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cTracking FaceAge through simple photographs offers a non-invasive and cost-effective biomarker that can inform individuals about their health,\u201d says co-author Hugo Aerts, director of the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine program at Mass General Brigham.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe hope that with further research, we will understand how FaceAge can provide prognostic information not only for cancer patients but also for other chronic diseases, as well as for healthy individuals,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n
The team has already created an online platform accessible to the general public, where anyone can upload their photo, receive an assessment of their biological age, and contribute to future research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence tool that analyzes how facial appearance changes over time and can help physicians predict outcomes for oncological diseases. This was reported by Euronews. The new research indicates that such an approach can provide additional information regarding patients’ conditions and their response to treatment. The study was conducted by researchers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jet_sm_ready_style":"","_jet_sm_style":"","_jet_sm_controls_values":"","_jet_sm_fonts_collection":"","_jet_sm_fonts_links":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n