pain conditions
Simplifying complex women’s health issues with AI
By Laurent van Lerberghe, managing partner at KELES
I often ask myself if technology is the solution to solving complexities in women’s health.
Women’s health has been a Cinderella area of research for some time, but increasing investment and technology innovation is changing the game, creating a vibrant ecosystem of companies offering exciting and innovative tech – are we finally getting to the heart of these complex problems by utilising the power of AI and data science to address gaps in health care?
Detecting endometriosis quicker with pain-free saliva test – Ziwig
Companies like Ziwig are at the forefront of tackling the long-standing challenge of diagnosing serious women’s health issues like endometriosis, a condition that often takes years to identify, leaving millions of women suffering without answers.
Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women, impacting fertility in 30-50 per cent of cases, and takes on average 7-8 years to receive a diagnosis.
By creating a technology that detects biomarkers of the disease in saliva, Ziwig aims to provide earlier and accurate detection, and reduces the need for invasive procedures such as laparoscopy.
Ziwig’s technology extracts and analyses salivary RNA, enabling precise detection of diseases such as endometriosis, women’s pathologies, cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.
The sample is processed through a robotic platform housed in the Brain Institute in Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, France, and analysed with the latest next-generation sequencing techniques.
Once the RNA is extracted from saliva samples, Ziwig employs advanced artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to detect and differentiate the complex biomarker patterns associated with endometriosis, improving both the accuracy and reliability of the diagnostic process.
Red, Amber or Green? Guiding breast cancer diagnosis with AI – Therapixel
Laurent van Lerberghe
AI is incredibly good at packaging complex data in simple categories, but how is that useful in breast cancer diagnosis?
Therapixel’s AI product uses deep learning and neural network algorithms to guide decisions about breast cancer diagnosis.
1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime, with annual mammograms recommended for women over the age of 40.
Therapixel’s technology, known as mammoscreen, validates a clinician’s suspicions by detecting potential lesions and characterising their malignancy on a simple colour graded scale of 1 to 10.
- 1-4, green = are very unlikely to contain cancers
- 5-6, orange = rely on radiologists expertise
- 7-10, red = are very likely to be malignant
Therapixel’s AI platform can process the image and deliver a report to the radiologist in under five minutes, significantly speeding up the diagnostic process compared to the traditional analogue methods.
It can also be used to compare images over time, helping to distinguish between stable and evolving features, which may indicate the development or progression of cancer.
This technology helps clinicians detect an average of 50 per cent of breast cancers a year earlier than traditional methods.
AI’s potential to give women’s health the diagnostic tools it deserves
Thanks to the innovative work of companies like Ziwig and Therapixel, new solutions combining AI and data science are addressing two of the most important women’s health issues, leading to better patient outcomes.
These are not potential technologies of the future; they already exist, and the impact will be delivered when they can effectively scale and the technology is more accessible.
Women’s health, like many other areas of health, is complicated, but AI tools hold immense potential to make diagnoses easier and provide more treatment options, rectifying long-standing disparities in the healthcare system.
When developed and applied responsibly, AI can significantly accelerate progress and act as a catalyst for change.
To fully realise this potential, it is imperative to ensure that AI systems are trained on inclusive data sets and developed by teams that actively involve women at every stage of the process.
That way, we can create a more equitable health system for all.
A non-profit has launched an endometriosis documentary featuring Amy Schumer and Marilyn Monroe as it pushes for changes in how the condition is treated and understood.
The Endometriosis Collective has launched to change how endometriosis is researched, treated and understood, starting with a documentary featuring stories from people including Amy Schumer and Marilyn Monroe.
The feature-length documentary, “End of the Cycle”, will premiere in New York on Tuesday, and The Endometriosis Collective is making the film free to stream online.
Schumer, a comedian, writer and actor, has previously spoken of how endometriosis left her “on the floor in pain, vomiting from the pain, the pain that nobody can see.”
Schumer is one of several celebrities featured in the documentary. Other contributors include dancer Julianne Hough, Olympic medallist Brittany Brown and actors Janel Parrish and Folake Olowofoyeku.
The Endometriosis Collective timed the documentary premiere to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s birth.
Monroe, who died in 1962, starred in films such as “Some Like It Hot” and “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”
According to a biography published in 1985, Monroe’s endometriosis was so severe that it destroyed her marriages, her wish for children, her career and ultimately her life.
The Endometriosis Collective said the documentary shares newly uncovered information about Monroe’s experience with endometriosis.
The non-profit said the information connects Monroe’s story to the experiences of women across generations, highlighting how far awareness, research and care still have to go.
A representative of the Marilyn Monroe Estate said: “By sharing this part of her story through ‘End of the Cycle,’ we hope to honour her legacy in a way that brings visibility to endometriosis, encourages more open dialogue and helps inspire the research needed to create change.”
As part of the premiere, The Endometriosis Collective is holding a panel discussion.
Schumer, Brown and Olowofoyeku, the documentary’s co-directors Sammy Jaye and Soraya Simi, and medical experts are due to be part of the premiere.
AbbVie’s Orilissa and Sumitomo Pharma’s Myfembree are among the approved drugs for endometriosis pain.
Hough, one of the participants in the documentary, starred in an Orilissa campaign in 2017.
Supermarket loyalty card data suggests more than a quarter of women buying menstrual products also buy pain relief at the same time.
The findings also suggest women in lower-income areas are significantly less likely to do so, pointing to disparities in access to over-the-counter pain relief across England.
The study was led by Dr Victoria Sivill of the University of Bristol and colleagues.
The authors said: “The study highlights the need for greater awareness and policy interventions to address the high prevalence of menstrual pain as well as socioeconomic dimensions of menstrual pain.
“Public health initiatives should incorporate menstrual pain relief as part of broader efforts to improve health equity.”
Researchers analysed anonymised loyalty card data from a major UK health and beauty retailer, covering 211m transactions by 3.4m people between 2006 and 2015.
The study examined how often shoppers bought menstrual products and pain relief in the same transaction, and compared this with a customer’s usual rate of buying pain relief.
It found that 26.7 per cent of customers who bought menstrual products also bought pain relief at the same time.
These customers were nearly four times more likely to buy pain relief when buying menstrual products than on other shopping trips.
As a check on the approach, researchers found the most common interval between consecutive menstrual product purchases was exactly 28 days, consistent with the average menstrual cycle.
Menstrual pain is common and can affect daily activities, including school and work attendance.
Regional income was the strongest predictor of menstrual pain purchases.
Customers in the lowest-income areas were 32 per cent less likely to buy pain relief at the same time as menstrual products than those in the highest-income areas.
The authors said lower rates of pain relief purchases in deprived areas are likely to reflect an inability to afford over-the-counter medication rather than lower rates of menstrual pain itself.
Co-author Dr James Goulding said: “It is wonderful that smart data research in the UK is able to bring issues which may have once been overlooked in scientific settings, such as the sheer scale and impact of menstrual pain, to light. This is well overdue.
Co-author Dr Anya Skatova said: “Like many women, I was aware of how common menstrual pain is, but the scale of painkiller purchases alongside menstrual products was still striking.
“Using shopping data, we can see just how widespread the need for pain relief really is. This kind of evidence helps make menstrual pain visible at a population level and provides a strong foundation for systemic change in how it is recognised, treated, and prioritised in public health.”
A major genetics study has found dozens of new signals linked to endometriosis, offering fresh insight into the biology driving the condition.
Endometriosis is a systemic disease affecting around 10 per cent of females worldwide.
It happens when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside it, causing pain, inflammation and fertility problems.
Despite how common it is, the underlying causes have remained poorly understood, slowing progress in diagnosis and treatment.
In one of the largest investigations to date, researchers analysed genetic data from approximately 1.4 million females, including more than 105,000 with endometriosis.
The study identified 80 genomic regions linked to disease risk, including 37 previously unreported loci, or specific positions on chromosomes, significantly advancing understanding of endometriosis genetics.
Notably, five of these regions were also linked to adenomyosis, a related condition in which endometrial-like tissue grows within the wall of the uterus.
Beyond identifying genetic variants, the researchers integrated transcriptomic, epigenetic and proteomic data, which examine gene activity, chemical changes regulating genes and proteins, to better understand how these variants influence disease development.
This multi-omics approach linked endometriosis genetics to key biological processes, including cell differentiation, immune response, hormonal regulation, tissue remodelling and inflammation.
These findings support long-standing hypotheses that endometriosis is not solely a localised gynaecological condition but a complex, systemic disorder involving immune and hormonal dysregulation.
The study also found that genetic risk for endometriosis interacted with a range of clinical symptoms, including abdominal pain, anxiety, migraine and nausea.
This reinforces the multifaceted nature of the disease and may help explain why patients often experience a broad spectrum of symptoms beyond pelvic pain.
Such insights could improve patient stratification in the future, enabling more personalised approaches to management based on genetic risk profiles.
The analysis also identified potential therapeutic targets through drug-repurposing approaches.
Some of the implicated pathways overlap with those targeted by existing treatments for breast cancer, contraception and preterm birth prevention, raising the possibility of accelerating new treatment strategies for endometriosis.
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