Fertility tracking gets a sleek, sustainable upgrade
If you’re female, do you know when you’re ovulating?
With the proliferation of femtech products in the fertility space, it’s never been easier to find out. Hopeful parents and fertility-aware individuals alike can rejoice.
The story: Femtech startup OVUL has launched its AI-enabled saliva-based fertility tracking device.
How it works: Saliva-based fertility tracking goes back to the midcentury. The method is called saliva ferning, or salivary crystallization.
- During a woman’s follicular phase—when she is about to ovulate—estrogen levels increase.
- This estrogen increase causes sodium chloride (NaCl) crystals to form both in cervical mucus and saliva. The crystals form a fern leaf-like pattern.
- Collection of the dried saliva and microscopic analysis of this crystallization is used to determine the time of ovulation.
Next-generation saliva ferning: OVUL’s approach draws on this decades-old approach and brings it into the 21st century, using artificial intelligence for the analysis. The OVUL device’s three-step process goes as follows:
- Open the device and wait for the indicator light to flash.
- Place a drop of saliva on the analyzer slide.
- Close the device to start the analysis and check for results on the OVUL app.
The benefits of this fertility tracking approach: OVUL differentiates its product through a few features.
- Location-independence: The test can be administered anywhere. No need for a bathroom.
- Time-independence: The test doesn’t need to be done in the morning, increasing convenience.
- Sustainability and affordability: Once a consumer has an OVUL device, there are no necessary refills or ongoing costs.
Our thoughts: Beyond this individual product, we’re excited by what the OVUL launch indicates for femtech’s continued commitment to sustainability.
- Especially in the home-testing space, plastic waste is a huge issue.
- Many popular DTC femtech products, such as menstrual products, pitch their innovations as eco-friendly alternatives to the status quo.
The Sustainable Femtech Network reports that, while femtech leaders’ attitudes prioritize sustainability, the sector’s relatively lower levels of funding (at least when compared to other medtech sectors) make these environmental commitments more challenging to carry out.