The development of medicine and technology go hand in hand, and there is no arguing with it. And one branch of medicine to particularly benefit from the rapid technological developments of today is women’s healthcare, a traditionally overlooked aspect of medicine, with only 1% of healthcare research spending going toward female-specific conditions. This increased attention towards female health has greatly improved diagnostics, treatment, and access to care for women around the world.
One aspect of the intersection of female health and medical technology is FemTech. Technologies like wearable devices, telemedicine, and female-specific apps, have made it easier to monitor health, access professionals, manage conditions, and enhance individual care. And today, we are seeing increasingly more of these technologies.
To help you navigate the world of FemTech, in this article, we want to look into innovations in the FemTech industry, and how these technologies are used to address female concerns.
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1. Innovations in Femtech Products
Before we move on to discussing innovations in FemTech, let’s first understand what FemTech is. FemTech stands for female technology, and encompasses a wide range of products and solutions that address women’s unique health needs, from reproductive health to chronic conditions. These can include mobile applications, wearable devices, easier diagnostics methods, and more. One such innovation in the field is Mia FemTech, a company representing a groundbreaking approach at the intersection of women’s healthcare and aesthetic medicine.
The progress of FemTech and technologies addressing women’s health are an instrumental and much-awaited development, as they can give women tools for better self-care and health management, as well as help them fill in the gaps in their knowledge about female health. Today, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that FemTech is transforming how women approach their health by making personalized insights and medical information more accessible.
2. Advancements in Wearable Technology
Wearable devices, or wearables, are one branch of FemTech, and they are becoming a great investment for health-conscious women worldwide. Let’s take a look at some of the more popular types of wearables.
Fitness Trackers
When hearing the word wearables, the first thing that comes to mind are probably the fitness trackers. These trackers, often integrated into smart watches like Apple Watch, but also coming independently, provide valuable data on physical activity, heart rate, sleep patterns, which can help in monitoring fitness goals and the overall health. With these trackers, women can set fitness and diet goals, get reminded, and monitor their goals much easier.
Menstrual Cycle Monitors
Every month, women’s bodies go through significant changes due to the menstrual cycle. And to understand that cycle and how it affects their day-to-day and overall wellbeing, it should be observed very closely. Luckily, menstrual cycle monitors come to help. These monitors come in the form of mobile apps, apps in the fitness trackers and smart watches, as well as in the form of independent wearables. These wearables include cycle monitors of enhanced precision (e.g. OvulaRing), as well as wearable birth control (Oura Ring). These wearables seamlessly integrate into the daily lives of women, helping them to access a comprehensive view of hormonal changes and cycle regularities. Many of these wearables integrate with mobile apps for greater usability.
Pregnancy and Postpartum Monitors
Last in our list of wearables designed for women are monitors and sensors designed to help women closely monitor their health during pregnancies, as well as during the postpartum period. These wearables monitor the stress levels, oxygen levels, sleep levels, and physical activities of women, revealing a comprehensive image of their bodily and mental health.
3. Telehealth and Virtual Care
In recent years, and particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has seen the rise of telehealth. This in many ways has revolutionized the way healthcare is delivered, making it more accessible than ever before. And while virtual care and telehealth have been revolutionary for all, it has been particularly useful for women, as young women were more likely to choose telehealth visits.
This is largely to the convenience of virtual care: telehealth gives women, who are traditionally the caregivers, the flexibility in terms of location and time to pay closer attention to their health. In addition to the scheduling convenience, telehealth gives women an expanded access to specialists, without confining them to the physicians working in their area, which can have a significant impact on the diagnosis and treatment.
Today, telehealth and virtual care offer virtual consultations, remote monitoring, and online health platforms, among other tools and platforms, transforming healthcare both for doctors and patients.
Virtual consultations, as the name suggests, allow women to connect with their healthcare providers through video calls, phone calls, or messaging. Virtual consultations are particularly convenient for routine check-ups and follow-up appointments. They also significantly simplify the pregnancy and postnatal care, reducing the need for travel and wait times.
Remote monitoring is closely connected to wearable devices discussed earlier, as well as health apps. These apps and devices track health-related signs, symptoms, and other metrics (including oxygen levels and heart rate of the baby of pregnant women), providing early warnings on potential issues, which women can then share with their doctors.
Lastly, online health platforms offer a wide range of tools and services available through the internet. These can include educational resources and community support, as well as platforms targeting specific needs and conditions. Symptom checkers are available on many online platforms, WebMD being the most popular. As the healthcare is going digital, online health platforms are becoming more and more versatile and niche, helping to enhance accessibility in women’s healthcare.
4. Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics
No discussion about FemTech would be complete without mentioning AI and big data analytics. AI is transforming healthcare, and women’s healthcare isn’t unaffected. In fact, many FemTech products, including wearables and online healthcare platforms, benefit greatly from the predictive power of AI algorithms.
AI tools today are extensively used as part of clinical health technologies for improved diagnostics, enhancing the detection accuracy of conditions like breast cancer, through access to extensive health data and improved imaging analysis of mammograms and ultrasounds, minimizing the risk of mistakes and incorrect diagnoses. AI systems can also analyze diverse data sources, such as electronic health records, to help healthcare professionals make more data-based and informed decisions.
In a more daily setting, these algorithms can analyze the data from the apps (for example, cycle tracking apps), as well as wearable devices, to alert about the patients in the case of anomalies. AI here can also provide important fertility insights, potentially relevant educational material based on patient data, as well virtual health assistant chatbots to simplify information search process.
5. Mental Health and Wellness Technologies
In the public discussion of healthcare, until not long ago, mental health was often pushed back or disregarded. Today, however, the stigma around mental health is slowly disappearing, and the important of taking care of one’s mental wellness is becoming a part of larger public discussion. Technology is one way many women choose to nurture their mental wellness.
One way is through the availability of information: an abundance of online resources, including webinars, podcasts, and articles, are available to educate women on mental health issues, as well as encourage them to seek help. Online support communities and forums, where women can share experiences and find support and advise and feel seen.
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Beyond the availability of information online, the existence of virtual care and telehealth option, as well as online health platforms (e.g. BetterHelp), has made mental health professionals as accessible as ever, breaking down barriers to access like location and schedule mismatch. Wearable devices and synced mobile apps can also be a significant help for women who look to improve their mental health by analyzing their data, like heart rates, sleep patterns, cycle symptoms, and more to understand potential stress levels and its cause, and provide personalized mental health support.
Conclusion
As we have seen, the integration of technology in women’s health care, as well as the emerging field of FemTech, revolutionize the way women think of healthcare and access it. The combination of awareness of the importance of health, specialized wearable devices, spread of telemedicine, and the advancements of healthcare AI empower women with greater control over their health, and offer them unprecedented accessibility to comprehensive and personalized health data and treatments. Seeing these developments is exciting, and we cannot wait for what FemTech will bring next!
