Lasa Health Is Using AI to Diagnose Chronic Pelvic Pain
CEO and founder Margaret Melville is leveraging her personal battle with endometriosis — and experience in global health innovation — to build an AI/ML platform that improves care for women with chronic pain. Their solution pushes back against a tide of gender inequity in care and provides relief for a burned out, shrinking physician workforce.
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Challenge
10 years. 25 doctors. That is how long it took Margaret Melville to get diagnosed with endometriosis.
Sadly, her case is all too common. For patients with chronic pelvic pain conditions, like endometriosis, it takes an average of 10 years to get diagnosed. Chronic pelvic pain is notoriously one of the most complex and frustrating conditions for doctors. The majority of doctors do not feel equipped to care for this patient population, even clinicians specialized in women’s health. One OBGYN with 30 years of experience explains: “I still get squeamish and have a sense of dread when I see chronic pelvic pain on the chart.”
Women’s pain has been habitually and systematically underappreciated in healthcare. For years chronic pain in women has been dismissed as a mental health issue. Women with clearly defined conditions have been told “it’s all in their head.” When it comes to making diagnoses, this has a major negative impact. One study identified 770 diseases where women were diagnosed an average of four years later than men.
Health system challenges are also contributing to the problem. Physician shortages and staff burnout is at an all time high. Four out of five doctors feel like they do not have the time to properly diagnose patients, and women with complex chronic pain conditions are certainly no exception. As one women’s health nurse practitioner explained to Melville: “10 minutes is not enough time to understand 10 years of pain and come up with a sufficient plan.”
So how can a shrinking and overworked physician workforce provide women with more timely access to a needed diagnosis?
Enter Lasa Health and their AI clinical decision support system for precision women’s health.
Origin Story
Margaret Melville suffered with chronic pelvic pain for 10 years without answers. Ultimately, she visited 25 doctors before finally being diagnosed with endometriosis and celiac disease. Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disorder that impacts one in 10 women. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks its own tissues if the person eats gluten.
“I had a decade of despair, living in near constant pain,” says Melville. “After being told by dozens of medical professionals that I was fine, I started questioning my sanity. I finally have answers, but there are millions of women still suffering in silence. I knew I needed to build something that would change the way these patients are diagnosed.”
Melville wasn’t your average patient, however. She had deep experience working at the crossroads of gender, business, and health. As an undergraduate, she started a medical device company, designing affordable medical equipment for developing countries. She worked for USAID’s Global Health Center for Innovation where she had a front row seat to large-scale tech-based healthcare solutions.
While pursuing her MBA from INSEAD, Melville decided to be the change that she personally needed in the world and started Lasa Health. She teamed up with technologist Christopher Fortuna who had been working on large language models “before it was cool.” Chris has leveraged machine learning expertise as a data scientist on exciting projects with healthtech unicorn, Owlet Baby Care, and the safety division of T.D. Williamson. Deeply motivated by Melville’s personal journey, Fortuna joined the team full time and has been building the Lasa Health’s tech stack and ML research division.
“AI/ML is positioned to be the catalyst of a revolution in healthcare. It has the ability to bring incredible value to all parties involved at an accessible price-point,” says Melville. “Soon AI assistants will be an essential companion and force multiplier for all providers and physicians. We’re excited to press the cutting edge of this evolution.”
Since the company’s start, Lasa Health has built a large team of clinical advisors and participated in accelerators, including Springboard’s Digital Health Innovation program, Texas Tech University’s Accelerator, Rocky Venture Club’s HyperAccelerator, and National Science Foundation’s i Corps program.
Under the Hood
Lasa Health’s approach is to start with one of the most common reasons that women visit the doctor: pelvic pain. Approximately 25% of women suffer from chronic pelvic pain and are often left wondering if it is “normal” or if there is an underlying condition. Currently, it takes an average of 10 years from the onset of symptoms to a diagnosis. This is “the decade of despair,” says Melville.
Before an appointment, patients are sent a link to Lasa’s proprietary Pelvic Pain Assessment which screens patients for 15 potential causes. Based on the results, Lasa’s platform creates personalized recommendations for the physician to review and discuss with the patient. This improves the time to diagnosis and allows the appointment to be spent discussing next steps for diagnosis and treatment options.
Lasa Health also offers a mobile app with an AI chatbot to support patients between appointments — providing evidence-based resources and monitoring the effectiveness of the treatment plan. This technology both empowers patients in self-care and supports medical professionals in faster and more-accurate diagnosis.
Already, the team has collected a large curated dataset and has begun development of a model capable of distinguishing between the most common causes of chronic pelvic pain. This autumn, they will begin piloting their model, starting with women’s health clinics.
Looking forward, the team will explore integrating additional data modes such as electronic medical records to improve their model. Ultimately, their vision is to build the most comprehensive dataset and algorithms for screening not only causes of chronic pelvic pain but all chronic conditions impacting women.
Final Word
Lasa Health’s solution is well positioned to be an innovative player at the convergence of two booming fields, healthcare AI and FemTech. Their technology tackles the multifaceted challenges of chronic pelvic pain — supporting physicians and raising the standard of care for patients everywhere.
“Technology is going to play a huge role in the future of OBGYN care because this country is facing a looming OBGYN shortage,” says Lasa Health clinical advisor Jennifer McLeland, MD. “Digital health companies stand to be the bridge between patients and OBGYN physicians.”
Lasa Health’s thoughtful and nuanced approach serves the needs of a complex patient population and the needs of the saturated providers caring for them. Their team, along with their strategic and clinical partners, is poised to revolutionize precision women’s healthcare and remedy “the decade of despair” faced by chronic pelvic pain patients.
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Published: Jun 29, 2023