Would You Trust AI-Guided Injections?

They’re not here yet, but AI-guided injections ARE a possibility for the future as are injecting robots! …

So, now I’ve got your attention, I wanted to talk about how AI is impacting tweakments and the whole area of aesthetic medicine in general – because here, as in every other sphere of life, AI is making its presence felt and largely, it’s useful. Here’s what you need to know…

AI for precision-guided injectables?

What really intrigued me when I began researching this story was the suggestion of AI-guided injections – aka that AI can help with ‘precision-guided’ injectable treatments.  Er, how? By overlaying injection paths on a digital display or providing visual cues to help inexperienced injectors. That sounds both quite mad yet entirely plausible for the future!

In terms of filler and toxin injections, this all seems to be in the future and not yet in practice, but I’ve seen one system providing a digital overlay to help guide practitioners. This is the impressive Artery 3D which I wrote about last year: it uses augmented reality tools coupled with an MRI scan of a patient’s face to map exactly where their facial arteries lie (helpful because the arteries aren’t often exactly where the textbooks say they are).

But would you want anyone injecting you under AI guidance? ‘That’s a terrible idea!’ exclaims Dr Ben Taylor-Davies, director of the Stockbridge Clinic in Edinburgh. ‘What you need for a good result with injectables is an injector with clinical and procedural skills, and experience, particularly for patient safety. I don’t see how there can be any shortcuts to good training and robust anatomical knowledge.’

‘If you’re talking about using AI tools as an additional safety measure, that’s a different conversation,’ continues Dr Taylor-Davis. ‘There’s no doubt that tech has enhanced safety in aesthetics – for example, with the increasing use of ultrasound imaging for vascular mapping, that’s a huge positive shift. But if AI is used to allow novice clinicians to do treatments beyond the remit of their skills, that is a dangerous slope. I can’t imagine any patient would be happy to be injected by someone being instructed by an AI autocue. I mean, would you?’

No I wouldn’t, and I’d also wonder what result the AI-guided injections would be aiming at. Would they have been taught on a beauty template reflecting the proportions of a Kardashian face? I’d hope both patient and practitioner would be closely involved in the planning of AI-guided injections. But, hey, isn’t that what skilled and experienced practitioners have learned to be good at?

AI can predict how your lips look with filler

If you’ve wondered how a particular treatment might look on your face – AI has already got there. More sophisticated than the gimme-big-lips filters on social media, programmes like Galderma’s FACE visualisation show your own face on screen, then show the difference that particular injectable treatments might make to it, in real time.

Meet your ‘digital twin’ with AI imaging

One of the complaints I hear most often is people saying that a treatment ‘did nothing’ for their face. And while I know that not every treatment works for every person, I always want to ask whether those people have had proper clinical before and after images – taken in the same light, at precisely the same angles etc., in order to make a proper comparison.

Precision imaging, to show exactly what a face looks like before and after treatment, is a vital tool in aesthetic medicine and imaging software is getting cleverer all the time, particularly with a bit of AI input.

Take the Aura imaging system, for example. ‘Aura creates photo-realistic 3D ‘digital twins’ of the face and neck, analysing facial expressions, angles, skin condition, and volume changes to highlight subtle effects,’ explains Lorna Bowes of Aesthetic Source.  ‘By integrating advanced hardware and reality technology, it turns complex data into actionable AI-based insights, which makes for more accurate and transparent consultations,’ she adds. ‘It’s precision 3D facial imaging and it’s shaping the future of the aesthetic industry by setting a new standard.’

The Visia imaging system uses AI tech too, to show the way a face ages. It’s a little alarming to see your face on screen accelerated into the future to glimpse its take on your 80-year-old self… though it’s a good reminder to keep using sunscreen and active skincare.

AI to improve energy-based treatments  

When you have AI tech built into a device like the BTL Exion to optimise the way it works, treatments like radiofrequency microneedling become a better experience for both practitioner and patient.

‘As a doctor, my first aim is to do no harm,’ explains Dr Gemma Lewis of the Doctorium GP clinic in Derby.’ When I’m using this technology, we have real-time monitoring of the energy the machine is using, the heat of the skin tissues, and the device adjusts itself to keep to the consistent dose of radiofrequency throughout the treatment. I know exactly what the machine is doing, and patients enjoy the fact that they can see how much energy is being used and where; it helps reassure them and reduce their worries about needles going too deep and causing fat loss.’

AI can lend a helping hand in clinic 

Behind the scenes in clinic, AI may be hard at work in ways that aren’t as exciting as robot injectors, but they’re immensely practical. Transcription tools mean that you, the patient, can easily have a record of exactly what was said during your consultation (always helpful, given that unless we’re really concentrating, we rarely remember more than half of what is said to us). And so can your practitioner. AI can help clinic software streamline bookings and aid with analysing patients’ medical notes before appointments.

Chatbots can help answer basic queries too. For example, did you know, we have our own TTG chatbot – it’s still in development but I’d love it if you could have a play with it and let us know what you think of its answers. You can find it in the bottom right-hand side of the homepage. It’s the button marked ‘Ask A Question’.

So is the future filled with robot-injectors?

Not in the near future, probably!

Although, come to think of it, there’s already a robotic ‘arm’ used in the ARTAS robotic hair transplant system, which can quickly and neatly nip out hair follicles from a scalp for transplantation. The newer versions of the tech can also implant the harvested follicles – though the tech does need human supervision. So, potentially – watch this space…