Artificial Intelligence and Women’s Health

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionise women’s health in a time of increased awareness of health inequality. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) have begun to apply frameworks for the use of AI in decreasing wait times, providing accessible text-based services, and analysing medical images. However, the use of AI is not limited to clinical settings, and may also benefit users through the use of mobile apps and off-the-shelf wearable technology.

Women’s health is a broad term, including sexual and reproductive health, gynaecologic and obstetric care. In the past these areas of research and treatment have been somewhat overlooked. Recently, there has been a push to examine the gender bias in healthcare, while acknowledging the need for inclusivity.

Areas of Interest

Hormone cycle tracking has become common for smartphone users, with a vast array of apps available to analyse patterns in users’ self-reported data. When combined with AI, these apps may not simply make predictions but may also provide wellbeing tips for users based on their symptoms and hormone levels. 

AI is a powerful tool for interpreting medical images such as mammograms, in conjunction with clinicians. AI systems may identify early signs of breast cancer, allowing patients to be carefully monitored and potentially even treated early.

AI may be used to harness large data sets and make predictions about patient health without invasive tests. AI may also expand the number of conditions which can be diagnosed with a single blood test, or scan. This may benefit patients who should minimise stress or overexertion, such as during pregnancy when patients are at risk of conditions such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. Using machine learning, AI systems may identify unexpected variables which can be used to diagnose or predict health conditions. This may be particularly useful for conditions which are underdiagnosed in women such as coronary artery disease or heart attacks.

AI systems, reliant on data, may help to improve outcomes for patients who have felt discriminated against or dismissed due to their gender.

Requirements for Patentability

It is often necessary to demonstrate a technical effect achieved by a software invention to prevent it from being excluded from patentability in the UK and Europe as a “program for a computer” or a “mathematical method.” An invention which analyses real-world sensor data may demonstrate a technical effect, such as an AI system which incorporates a wearable sensor to provide a diagnosis or recommendation. Examples of sensor measurements include motion sensing, heart rate measurement, temperature measurement, or the pH of bodily fluids.

If the AI system is configured to control an external device, this achieves a further technical effect, and the system would not be excluded from patentability. For example, the system could control an insulin pump, or transcranial current stimulation electrode. 

Methods of treatment and diagnosis practised on the human body are excluded from patentability in Europe and the UK. It would not be possible to patent the use of an AI system to control an insulin pump, which would constitute treatment, although it would be possible to patent the system itself (as long as it is novel and non-obvious). As a further example, an AI-enabled method for reading mammograms may still be patentable, as the method itself is not practiced on the human body directly. However, it would not be possible to patent a method for performing a mammogram on the human body, regardless of whether the method was performed by a human being or a machine.

Although patent applications may require careful drafting to avoid being excluded from patentability, there are clear paths towards patentability in many areas of AI, including those relating to women’s health.

Moving Forward

The Minister of State for Women’s Health recently spoke at the Responsible AI: Women and Healthcare Conference 2025, noting that AI technologies must be developed “responsibly, and inclusively, that don’t leave women or indeed any other part of our population behind.”

In the Women’s Health Strategy for England, one of the key goals is to plug the data gap in women’s health conditions. It is furthermore important to carefully monitor the training data for AI models to guard against bias, especially if the end goal is to implement an AI system in a public health service such as the NHS.

Computer technology (including AI) and medical technology accounted for more than 30,000 patent applications filed at the European Patent Office in 2024.  As these technologies mature, those at the forefront should be aware of the patent landscape as it relates to AI and healthcare. 

Innovation in women’s health promises to benefit people from all walks of life and our experienced attorneys would be delighted to assist you in navigating the complexities of protecting such innovation for the benefit of current and future generations.