Ministry of Health investigates bias in medical devices and algorithms

The government has issued evidence, Seeking advice and how to address discrimination in medical devices and technology as part of an independent review of medical technology.

Call for evidence to be open until 6 October 2022, aiming to Gather insights from experts and organizations on potential racial and gender bias in medical devices. The review is seeking expertise from those working on development and those working with medical equipment such as oxygen measurement devices and infrared scanners, and associated software and hardware, including databases and instructions. This applies to the entire life cycle of a device, from assessment to marketing and implementation, to identify potential deviations at each stage.

As Margaret, Chair of Public Health, WH Duncan, Department of Public Health and Policy As part of an independent review of medical device equity led by Whitehead, the government is seeking to address disparities in healthcare by gathering evidence on how medical devices and technology may bias patients across racial, gender and other sociodemographic groups.

For example, some devices that use infrared light or imaging may Patients with darker pigmentation performed poorly, which was not accounted for in development and testing

Experts were asked to provide as much information as possible regarding medical device bias. In addition to information about the type, name, brand or manufacturer of the device, the independent review hopes to gather as much detail as possible about the intended use of potentially discriminatory medical devices, the patient populations who use them, and how they are used . and why these devices may not be equally effective or safe for all intended patient populations. Discussing censorship, Whitehead said: ” Our goal is to identify where and how potential racial and other unfair biases may arise in the design and use of medical devices, and what can be done to improve them. We particularly encourage health, technology and industry experts and researchers to share Their views and any evidence about medical devices to help us address inequities in healthcare.

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Research suggests that some medical devices may be designed and used in ways that fail to account for differences related to racial background, gender, or other characteristics such as disability, which may exacerbate medical Existing inequalities in health care.

Although the current UK regulations put forward clear Expectedly, they do not currently include provisions to ensure that medical devices are equally effective for different groups in the population based on their social or demographic characteristics.

Health Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “Independent review is an important part of our work to address inequalities in healthcare. I invite industry to share their expertise in evidence gathering so we can ensure that medical devices are free of any form of bias.”

Along with physical devices, this review is evaluating artificial intelligence for diagnosis and healthcare decision-making (AI) applications, where bias may exist – built into the clinical algorithms they use. The review will also investigate risk scoring systems in which genomics is used to make decisions about personalized medicine.

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