Emoface: AI-assisted diagnostic model for differentiating major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder via facial biomarkers
Affective disorders, including Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Bipolar Disorder (BD), exhibit significant mood abnormalities, making rapid diagnosis essential for social stability and healthcare efficiency. Traditional diagnostic solutions, including medical history collection and psychological assessments, often struggle to differentiate their similar clinical presentations, leading to time-consuming, laborious, and a high rate of misdiagnosis. Here, we propose Emoface, an AI-assisted diagnostic model that reads the emotional activities of faces in affective disorders. By analyzing videos from 353 participants exposed to various emotional stimuli, Emoface identified unique facial digital biomarkers distinguishing BD from MDD. Based on this, Emoface contributed to develop the first digital facial mapping for clinical and teaching use. In clinical practice with 347 patients, Emoface achieved precise diagnosis based on various facial visual signals, with accuracy rates of 95.29% for BD and 87.05% for MDD, offering a reliable face-based AI solution in a new era of affective disorders.
Authors
- Huimin Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8107-5839)
- Hailong Lyu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2587-0769)
- Shaohua Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0570-670X)
- Jingkai Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7830-2039)
- Yutong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8912-7942)
- Xin Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7284-2707)
- Wang Zhong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5262-1928)
- Yifeng Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0403-1141)
- Tianyu Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1884-6832)
- Jiahui Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4329-2739)
Institutions
- Allen Institute for Brain Science (US)
- Wenzhou Medical University (CN)
- Interface (United States) (US)
- Westlake University (CN)
- Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CN)
- Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University (CN)
- Zhejiang Lab (CN)
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University (CN)
- First Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University (CN)
- Zhejiang University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Mental Health Research
- Published
- 2025-10-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44184-025-00164-4
- Primary Topic
- Mental Health Research Topics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Hangzhou Science and Technology Bureau
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province