How a selfie-scanning AI tool to calculate biological age could help doctors treat cancers


A selfie can be used as a tool to help doctors determine a patientโ€™s โ€œbiological ageโ€ and judge how well they may respond to cancer treatment, a new study suggests.

The FaceAge AI tool can estimate a personโ€™s biological age, as opposed to their actual age, by scanning an image of their face, the study found.

A personโ€™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, said researchers from Mass General Brigham in the US state of Massachusetts.

A representation of how FaceAge might be calculated from a photo of a patient. The patient in this photo is AI-generated. Photo: Mass General Brigham
A representation of how FaceAge might be calculated from a photo of a patient. The patient in this photo is AI-generated. Photo: Mass General Brigham

They wanted to examine whether biological age could be examined based on how a person looks โ€“ similar to what doctors call an โ€œeyeball testโ€, in which certain judgments are made based on how a person looks.

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