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Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
What is FaceAge, the AI tool that can tell how healthy you are from a selfie?
A new AI tool promises to give doctors a clearer picture of a patient's health by analysing their face. Known as FaceAge, it is modelled after what physicians call 'the eyeball test,' a quick visual assessment made by doctors to gauge a patient's overall condition at a glance. The AI tool has been developed by researchers at Mass General Brigham, a non-profit, integrated healthcare initiative, in Boston, United States. Their research paper on the deep learning system was also published in the Lancet Digital Health on May 8, 2025. The developers of the AI tool have said that they expect to conduct a pilot study with about 50 patients starting next week. This means that FaceAge is yet to undergo proper testing before it can be deployed in hospitals to be used by doctors routinely. FaceAge is essentially powered by a deep learning algorithm that has been trained and developed to tell patients' biological age from a selfie. However, the tool is designed to provide a patient's age in health (biological age) and not in years (chronological age). A person's biological age is considered to be important because it could help doctors determine the most appropriate treatment for them. For example, doctors could prescribe a more aggressive treatment for a cancer patient if their biological age indicates that they are healthy enough to tolerate it. 'We found that doctors on average can predict life expectancy with an accuracy that's only a little better than a coin flip when using a photo alone for their analysis,' Dr Raymond Mak, a radiation oncologist at Mass General Brigham and one of the co-authors of the study was quoted as saying by Washington Post. 'Some doctors would hesitate to offer cancer treatment to someone in their late 80s or 90s with the rationale that the patient may die of other causes before the cancer progresses and becomes life-threatening,' Dr Mak added. At a press conference held last week, he recalled the case of an 86-year-old man with terminal lung cancer. 'But he looked younger than 86 to me, and based on the eyeball test and a host of other factors, I decided to treat him with aggressive radiation therapy,' he said. Four years later, Dr Mak said he used FaceAge to analyse the lung cancer patient's face. 'We found he's more than 10 years younger than his chronological age. The patient is now 90 and still doing great,' he said. Mass General Brigham researchers said that FaceAge's training datasets comprised 9,000 photographs of people ages 60 and older who were presumed to be healthy. A majority of the photos were downloaded from Wikipedia and IMDb, the internet movie database. The AI system was also trained using a large-scale dataset sourced from UTKFace, which comprised pictures of people between one year to 116 years old. 'It is important to know that the algorithm looks at age differently than humans do. So, for example, being bald or not, or being grey is less important in the algorithm than we actually initially thought,' Hugo Aerts, one of the co-authors of the study, said. The study noted that no face photographs of patients and other clinical datasets were used to train the AI tool. Researchers of the study have emphasised that FaceAge is not meant to replace but enhance a doctor's visual assessment of a patient, otherwise known as the 'eyeball test'. The deep learning system has also undergone some testing. FaceAge was tested on photographs of over 6,200 cancer patients. These images of the patients were captured before they underwent radiotherapy treatment. The AI algorithm determined that the patients' biological age was on average five years older than their chronological age. The survival outlook of these patients provided by FaceAge was also dependent on how old their faces looked. In another experiment, the researchers asked eight doctors to tell whether patients who had terminal cancer would be alive in six months. When doctors relied only on a patient's photograph to make their prediction, they were right 61 per cent of the time. That figure rose to 73 per cent when doctors relied on the photograph as well as clinical information. The doctors' reached an even higher accuracy of 80 per cent when using FaceAge, along with information on medical charts. The study also noted that an older-looking face does not necessarily lead the AI tool to predict a poor health outcome. After analysing photos of actors Paul Rudd and Wilford Brimley (when both were aged 50), FaceAge determined that Rudd's biological age was 43 and Brimley's was 69, as per the study. However, Brimley died in August, 2020, at 85-years-old. The team behind FaceAge has acknowledged that there is a long way to go before the AI tool is deployed in a real-world clinical setting as there are several risks that need to be effectively addressed. For instance, privacy has always been a long-standing concern when it comes to AI systems that gather facial data. However, the study noted, 'Our model is configured for the task of age estimation, which, in our opinion, has less embedded societal bias than the task of face recognition.' Researchers also said that they sought to address potential racial or ethnic bias in the AI tool by quantifying 'model age predictions across different ethnic groups drawn from the UTK validation dataset.' 'The UTK is one of the most ethnically diverse age-labelled face image databases available publicly and, therefore, appropriate for assessing model performance in this regard, with non-White individuals comprising approximately 55% of the database,' it said. The study also noted that FaceAge is minimally affected by ethnicity as the researchers adjusted for 'ethnicity as a covariate […] in the multivariable analysis of the Harvard clinical datasets.' Still, the developers of FaceAge have said that strong regulatory oversight and further assessments of bias in the performance of FaceAge across different populations is essential. 'This technology can do a lot of good, but it could also potentially do some harm,' said Hugo Aerts, director of the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine program at Mass General Brigham and another co-author of the study, was quoted as saying.
NDTV
09-05-2025
- Health
- NDTV
A Simple Selfie Could Reveal Your Odds Of Surviving Cancer, Study Reveals
Artificial intelligence (AI) can now analyse a person's selfie and predict their chance of surviving cancer, a new study published in the journal Lancet Digital Health has claimed. Researchers stated that the AI tool can be used to measure the "biological age" of a person, which is a key parameter in assessing whether they will beat the cancer odds or not. A team from Mass General Brigham, a non-profit research group in the United States, used the tool called FaceAge, which was trained using 59,000 photos. The researchers are of the view that someone's biological age, rather than their actual age, is a better predictor of someone's overall health and life expectancy. The tool was used on 6,200 patients with cancer using images taken at the start of their treatment. "We also assessed the performance of FaceAge in patients with metastatic cancer receiving palliative treatment at the end of life by incorporating FaceAge into clinical prediction models," the study highlighted. The academics found that the biological age of patients with cancer was, on average, five years older than their actual age. 'Our study now has shown for the first time that we can really use AI to turn a selfie into a real biomarker source of ageing,' said Dr Hugo Aerts, corresponding author of the paper. 'The impact can be very large, because we now have a way to actually very easily monitor a patient's health status continuously and this could help us to better predict the risk of death or complications after, say, for example, a major surgery or other treatments,' he added. The researchers cited the example of actors Paul Rudd and Wilford Brimley based on photographs of the men when they were both 50 years old. Mr Rudd's age was calculated to be 42.6 while Mr Brimley, who died in 2020, was assessed to have a biological age of 69, according to a report in The Telegraph. The academics said more research was required to widen its scope and find if other conditions or diseases could also be analysed using a simple selfie. "Further research, including validation in larger cohorts, is needed to verify these findings in patients with cancer and to establish whether the findings extend to patients with other diseases."
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
EMB Selfies can be used to predict cancer patients' survival rate
Selfies could predict a person's chance of surviving cancer, a study has suggested. Doctors believe a new artificial intelligence tool that measures the 'biological age' of a patient based on a photo of their face, could inform the type of cancer treatment they receive. Knowing someone's biological age, rather than their actual age, is a better predictor of someone's overall health and life expectancy, a team from Mass General Brigham, a non-profit research group in the United States claims. The FaceAge AI tool scans an image of a person's face to estimate their biological age, which is based on factors including lifestyle and genetics. It is akin to what doctors call an 'eyeball test', in which doctors make judgements about overall health based on appearance, which in turn informs decisions about whether a person is strong or fit enough to undergo intensive cancer treatment. Researchers said they wanted to see whether they could 'go beyond' the 'subjective and manual' eyeball test by creating a 'deep learning' AI tool that could assess 'simple selfies'. The new AI algorithm was trained using 59,000 photos. Dr Hugo Aerts, one of the authors, said it was the first study to show 'we can really use AI to turn a selfie into a real biomarker source of ageing'. He said the tool is low cost, can be used repeatedly over time and could be used to track an individual's biological age over 'months, years and decades'. 'The impact can be very large, because we now have a way to actually very easily monitor a patient's health status continuously and this could help us to better predict the risk of death or complications after, say, for example, a major surgery or other treatments,' he added. Explaining the tool, academics showed how it assessed the biological age of actors Paul Rudd and Wilford Brimley based on photographs of the men when they were both 50 years old. Mr Rudd's biological age was calculated to be 42.6, while Mr Brimley, who died in 2020, was assessed to have a biological age of 69. The new study, published in the journal Lancet Digital Health, saw the FaceAge tool used on 6,200 patients with cancer using images taken at the start of their treatment. The academics found that the biological age of patients with cancer was, on average, five years older than actual age. They also found that the older biological age the tool gave them, the worse survival rates the cancer patients had, especially if FaceAge gave them a reading of more than 85. The authors concluded: 'Our results suggest that a deep learning model can estimate biological age from face photographs and thereby enhance survival prediction in patients with cancer.' Dr Ray Mak, another author of the research, said turning the photo into a measure of health was 'like having another vital sign data point' and said it was 'another piece of the puzzle like vital signs, lab results or medical imaging'. But he added: 'We want to be clear that we view AI tools like FaceAge as assistance to provide decision support and not replacements for clinician judgement.' More studies assessing FaceAge are under way, including whether it could be used for other conditions or diseases and what impact things like cosmetic surgery or Botox have on the tool. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Irish Examiner
09-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
New study finds ‘simple selfie' can help predict patients' cancer survival
A selfie can be used as a tool to help doctors determine a patient's 'biological age' and judge how well they may respond to cancer treatment, a new study suggests. Because humans age at 'different rates' their physical appearance may help give insights into their so-called 'biological age' – how old a person is physiologically, academics said. The new FaceAge AI tool can estimate a person's biological age, as opposed to their actual age, by scanning an image of their face, a new study found. Our study now has shown for the first time that we can really use AI to turn a selfie into a real biomarker source of ageing. A person's biological age, which is a predictor of their overall health and can be a predictor of life expectancy, is based on many factors including lifestyle and genetics, researchers from Mass General Brigham in the US said. But they wanted to examine whether or not biological age could be examined based on how a person looks – similar to what doctors call an 'eyeball test' whereby certain judgments are made based on how a person looks, such as whether or not someone could undergo intensive cancer treatment based on how frail they appear to be. Researchers said they wanted to see whether they could 'go beyond' the 'subjective and manual' eyeball test by creating a 'deep learning' artificial intelligence (AI) tool which could assess 'simple selfies'. The new algorithm was trained using 59,000 photos. Actor Paul Rudd's biological age appeared to be much lower than his actual age (PA) 'Our study now has shown for the first time that we can really use AI to turn a selfie into a real biomarker source of ageing,' said Dr Hugo Aerts, corresponding author of the paper. He said the tool is low cost, can be used repeatedly over time and could be used to track an individual's biological age over 'months, years and decades'. 'The impact can be very large, because we now have a way to actually very easily monitor a patient's health status continuously and this could help us to better predict the risk of death or complications after, say, for example, a major surgery or other treatments,' he added. Explaining the tool, academics showed how it assessed the biological age of actors Paul Rudd and Wilford Brimley based on photographs of the men when they were both 50 years old. Rudd's biological age was calculated to be 42.6, while Brimley, who died in 2020, was assessed to have a biological age of 69. The new study, published in the journal Lancet Digital Health, saw the tool used on thousands of cancer patients. Wilford Brimley's face was used in the study (Alamy/PA) FaceAge was used on 6,200 patients with cancer using images taken at the start of their treatment. The academics found that the biological age of patients with cancer was, on average, five years older than chronological age. They also found that older FaceAge readings were associated with worse survival outcomes among patients with cancer, especially in people who had a FaceAge older than 85 years old. The authors concluded: 'Our results suggest that a deep learning model can estimate biological age from face photographs and thereby enhance survival prediction in patients with cancer.' Dr Ray Mak, co-senior author on the paper, added: 'We have demonstrated that AI can turn a simple face photo into an objective measure of biological age, that clinicians can use to personalised care for patients, like having another vital sign data point.' He said that it is 'another piece of the puzzle like vital signs, lab results or medical imaging'. But he added: 'We want to be clear that we view AI tools like FaceAge as assistance provide decision support and not replacements for clinician judgment.' More studies assessing FaceAge are under way, including whether it could be used for other conditions or diseases and what impact things like cosmetic surgery or Botox have on the tool.
Rhyl Journal
09-05-2025
- Health
- Rhyl Journal
New study finds ‘simple selfie' can help predict patients' cancer survival
Because humans age at 'different rates' their physical appearance may help give insights into their so-called 'biological age' – how old a person is physiologically, academics said. The new FaceAge AI tool can estimate a person's biological age, as opposed to their actual age, by scanning an image of their face, a new study found. A person's biological age, which is a predictor of their overall health and can be a predictor of life expectancy, is based on many factors including lifestyle and genetics, researchers from Mass General Brigham in the US said. But they wanted to examine whether or not biological age could be examined based on how a person looks – similar to what doctors call an 'eyeball test' whereby certain judgments are made based on how a person looks, such as whether or not someone could undergo intensive cancer treatment based on how frail they appear to be. Researchers said they wanted to see whether they could 'go beyond' the 'subjective and manual' eyeball test by creating a 'deep learning' artificial intelligence (AI) tool which could assess 'simple selfies'. The new algorithm was trained using 59,000 photos. 'Our study now has shown for the first time that we can really use AI to turn a selfie into a real biomarker source of ageing,' said Dr Hugo Aerts, corresponding author of the paper. He said the tool is low cost, can be used repeatedly over time and could be used to track an individual's biological age over 'months, years and decades'. 'The impact can be very large, because we now have a way to actually very easily monitor a patient's health status continuously and this could help us to better predict the risk of death or complications after, say, for example, a major surgery or other treatments,' he added. Explaining the tool, academics showed how it assessed the biological age of actors Paul Rudd and Wilford Brimley based on photographs of the men when they were both 50 years old. Rudd's biological age was calculated to be 42.6, while Brimley, who died in 2020, was assessed to have a biological age of 69. The new study, published in the journal Lancet Digital Health, saw the tool used on thousands of cancer patients. FaceAge was used on 6,200 patients with cancer using images taken at the start of their treatment. The academics found that the biological age of patients with cancer was, on average, five years older than chronological age. They also found that older FaceAge readings were associated with worse survival outcomes among patients with cancer, especially in people who had a FaceAge older than 85 years old. The authors concluded: 'Our results suggest that a deep learning model can estimate biological age from face photographs and thereby enhance survival prediction in patients with cancer.' Dr Ray Mak, co-senior author on the paper, added: 'We have demonstrated that AI can turn a simple face photo into an objective measure of biological age, that clinicians can use to personalised care for patients, like having another vital sign data point.' He said that it is 'another piece of the puzzle like vital signs, lab results or medical imaging'. But he added: 'We want to be clear that we view AI tools like FaceAge as assistance provide decision support and not replacements for clinician judgment.' More studies assessing FaceAge are under way, including whether it could be used for other conditions or diseases and what impact things like cosmetic surgery or Botox have on the tool.
