AI is influencing women’s health in new ways, from fertility to menopause

AI is making its way into women’s health in unusual ways, from a sanitary napkin that can predict ovarian cancer to an algorithm trained to detect patterns of endometriosis years before traditional diagnostic methods.

In Miami, women’s health leaders say this is a new era of AI, enabling earlier diagnoses, more personalized treatments, and long-overdue attention to female medical conditions that have historically been misunderstood.

“There’s a lot of momentum happening right now due to innovation and technology focused on women’s health,” said Rachelle Ferrera, senior vice president of Modivcare healthcare services, moderator of a panel discussion held at the World Health Expo in Miami.

For decades, women suffering from conditions like endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome faced delays in diagnosis that stretched into years, frustrating them as they suffered from pain and even infertility. Now, with the aid of machine learning algorithms, doctors can comb through thousands of patient records and data points to flag potential cases earlier and more accurately. Artificial intelligence is helping to bridge long-standing gaps in care, offering women new hope.

“AI has the potential to revolutionize how we approach women’s health, especially for conditions that are notoriously underdiagnosed,” said Gabriela Sabate, a Miami tech entrepreneur, executive and investor.

Already, AI can analyze health records, data produced by wearable devices, and genetic information to identify risk factors and treatment pathways for conditions such as menopause and cardiovascular disease. In imaging, AI-powered mammogram analysis can enhance the accuracy of breast cancer detection by identifying subtle patterns in imaging that human eyes might miss. AI programs can review Pap smear images and ultrasound scans, increasing the speed and accuracy of identifying cervical and ovarian cancers.

For fertility and pregnancy, AI is being used to predict ovulation and fertility windows more precisely, as well as create personalized treatment plans based on past IVF outcomes. It can help predict preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, or preterm labor based on a patient’s history, vitals, and lab results. One recent study showed that AI flagged high-risk pregnancies weeks earlier than obstetricians.

AI-powered apps on smartphones and watches help users track cycle irregularities and mood changes, providing data that can be shared with doctors or analyzed directly by algorithms trained to identify warning signs. As more women seek information on the challenges of menopause, AI-driven platforms offer personalized advice on symptom management — from insomnia to hormone therapy options — based on user profiles and up-to-date research.

“The technologies that we’re seeing making the biggest impact are providing solutions,”  said Jan Beery, chief commercial officer of World View Solutions, who participated on the Miami panel. “If they are able to come in and help with diagnostics and preventative care, we are seeing more of those things come to the top of the pile.”

Researchers at ETH Zurich, a Swiss company, are studying a sanitary pad that can detect biomarkers for diseases in menstrual blood. If certain proteins in the menstrual blood are elevated, it could indicate endometriosis or ovarian cancer.

“If you think of a gap in women’s health, endometriosis is one of them,” said Sabate, CEO of Cloodie, an innovator in Electronic Health Records. “Mostly because physicians are not as trained in detecting it. There’s not a clear-cut method or diagnostic tool to detect it early.”

Women’s health experts say the advances are overdue. Much of the health-related technology has been designed without considering women’s specific needs, even though women now make up 51% of the population.

At Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Dr. Irman Forghani, director of the Rad Center for Precision Medicine, is pushing for greater female participation.

“If we want to make these AI solutions and variables most suitable for women, we have to get more women involved,” she said. “Any innovation starts with a burning question, and who knows women better than women themselves?”

Forghani, also director of genetics at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said newer devices like the Oura ring, which collects data on biometrics, or the Ava Bracelet, which tracks PMS symptoms and fertility insights, play an important role in gathering health data from women.

However, Forghani told the audience in Miami, these tools are only as good as the data people feed them, noting that bias in algorithms is a growing concern. If AI is trained mostly on data from white women, for example, it may miss symptoms or patterns in Black, Latina, or Asian patients. Or if it collects information only from people who can afford the technology, that’s a concern, too.

“We have to have more inclusive data,” said Demi Radeva, an angel investor and founder of  Akros Advisory, a Minnesota-based healthcare consulting firm.  “If you don’t have data for different populations, you’re building a solution that may not work for all women out there. And so we really need to figure out our data issues and have clean, aggregate, population-level data so we can actually deploy solutions.”

Despite challenges, momentum is building. Venture funding for women’s health innovations — often referred to as “femtech” — is growing, although it still represents a relatively small portion of overall health technology investment.

“Everyone is aware of the problem, but the number of women-led ventures that get access to capital is still so low,” Sabate said.

Floridians, both men and women, have mixed opinions about the use of AI in healthcare. Researchers at the University of South Florida and Florida Atlantic University have released findings from a statewide survey of 500 people that measured attitudes toward the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

While many Floridians see potential benefits, just over half (54%) were comfortable with AI helping doctors diagnose illnesses. However, less than half said that they were comfortable with AI recommending treatments (48%) and only about a third (36%) are comfortable with AI recommending medications.

Regardless of the advancements in health from AI, Radeva said the human element will still be necessary.. For example, she said, an Artificial Intelligence program identified the word “dementia” and assigned it to a patient who was discussing her cat.  “There will still be a need for human auditors, a need for humans reviewing data, reviewing clinical charts,” she said.

South Florida Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.