Insight
What does ‘non-invasive’ mean in women’s health?
By Gloria Kolb, Co-Founder & CEO – Elitone
When it comes to women’s health, “non-invasive” is often associated with medical procedures that avoid surgery.
While accurate, the term encompasses much more — technically, it means not entering the body, but it’s also about “non-intrusiveness,” which encompasses comfort, accessibility, and the ability to integrate care into daily life without disruption.
From menopause management to fertility tracking, innovations in non-invasive healthcare are reshaping how women approach their well-being.
For example, stress urinary incontinence — a condition in which leaks occur during activities like sneezing, coughing, or jumping — affects one in three women.
These leaks can significantly disrupt daily life, yet the idea of invasive procedures, even through natural orifices, often deters women from seeking care.
Additionally, invasive methods for prenatal testing and diagnosis during pregnancy, such as Amniocentesis to remove and test amniotic fluid from the uterus, can sometimes cause amniotic fluid to “leak through the vagina” and comes with a risk of miscarriage in 0.1-0.3 per cent of cases.
Similarly, more invasive methods to track women’s fertility, including laparoscopies and hysteroscopies, may be linked to post-operative risks like bleeding, pain, discomfort, infection, or damage to the cervix, bowel, uterus, or bladder — all of which could prevent women from seeking the care they need
These potential complications underscore the worry that many women have regarding invasive treatment options.
This is where non-invasive solutions shine, offering not only a surgical alternative but also options that prioritise ease, discretion, and the ability to maintain a busy schedule.
Non-invasive advances across women’s health
Fertility tracking without invasive procedures
Fertility assessments often involve many blood tests and ultrasounds, which can be inconvenient and stressful.
Non-intrusive devices that analyze hormone levels in saliva or urine provide real-time fertility insights, reducing the need for many clinic visits.
These necessary tools give women deeply detailed knowledge of their reproductive health to help prevent the discomfort that naturally comes with invasive testing.
Menopause and vaginal health solutions
Menopause brings several significant changes, including a noticeable degree of vaginal dryness and large hormone fluctuations.
To address this, there are new inventions that use novel and non-invasive technology, such as an ultrasound device that treats vaginal dryness without hormones and vaginal devices or procedures.
While some of these inventions are not yet available, continued improvements in non-invasive technology will provide more options that offer relief while respecting women’s comfort and autonomy.
Period health monitoring
While menstrual blood contains many important health indicators, customary testing methods frequently ignore this vital resource.
Advanced menstrual blood analysis devices, however, provide several key insights into hormonal health, degrees of inflammation, and multiple reproductive conditions by directly testing blood samples obtained from sanitary pads or menstrual cups.
This method is unobtrusive and enables the tracking of health trends over time.
Non-invasive genetic testing for pregnancy
Amniocentesis, an invasive procedure with several risks, has been used for prenatal testing and diagnostics, but this invasive procedure has historically been unnecessary.
Genetic analysis of amniotic fluid is now achievable through the mother’s blood, thanks to non-invasive prenatal testing tests (NIPT).
This improvement makes prenatal screening safer because it only requires providers to take a standard blood sample rather than conduct an invasive procedure that could harm the mother or fetus, thereby reducing stress for expectant mothers while offering important health information.
Weight management and metabolic health
Hormonal balance, metabolic rate, and genetic predisposition are meaningful factors in many women’s weight loss adventures.
Today, many wearable metabolic health devices are available to help women track essential indicators such as glucose and ketone levels.
These devices eliminate the need for more invasive blood tests and allow women to make more easily educated choices about diet and exercise.
Comfort matters: Why non-invasive solutions succeed
One of the most significant barriers to consistent healthcare treatment is discomfort — whether physical, emotional, or logistical.
Many women discontinue treatments that are excessively invasive, remarkably time-consuming, or incredibly inconvenient.
Easy-to-use options make it more likely that women will use them consistently, and minimally intrusive options have the same effect.
Clinicians know that compliance in treatment is one of the largest hurdles in any care.
For instance, many pelvic floor therapy and electrical stimulation devices involve vaginal inserting these devices vaginally to strengthen the pelvic floor.
However, these treatments may produce significant discomfort, which can lead to a decline in use.
On the other hand, external pelvic floor stimulation devices are convenient and comfortable and provide an at-home option for strengthening the pelvic floor that minimally disrupts a woman’s daily routine.
Conversely, alternative menopause treatments exist that acknowledge that hormone therapy, along with vaginal suppositories, is not universally suitable for women.
Wearable cooling devices, acupressure bands, and hormone-monitoring patches offer symptom relief, and they do so with no need for medical intervention.
The future of non-invasive care: Meeting women where they are
Women’s healthcare is rapidly advancing, providing more personalised, convenient, and patient-centred care.
Because women’s health experiences vary from patient to patient, treatment should be tailored to their unique experiences.
Many non-invasive treatments are available to address this diversity, offering a variety of options for personalised management of fertility, menopause, weight loss, and postpartum recovery.
Their appeal lies in effortlessly delivering considerable results.
Today, women can use a number of non-intrusive options to manage their health, including hormone tracking, improved pelvic health, menopause symptom relief, and other aspects of their health.
As technology advances, improving women’s quality of care and life, it will continue to broaden the definition of non-intrusive treatments.
— Gloria Kolb is the CEO and co-founder of Elitone, the first non-invasive, FDA-cleared, wearable treatment for women with urinary incontinence.
Elitone’s accolades include winning Best New Product by My Face My Body, Sling Shot, finalist in Women Startup Challenge, and CES’ Innovation Award. As an inventor with 30+ patents and advocate for women’s health, Gloria has been featured in Forbes as a Top Scientist Driving Innovation in Women’s Health, TechRound’s Top Women in Tech, Boston’s “40 Under 40” and MIT Review’s “World’s Top Innovators under 35.”
She has engineering degrees from MIT and Stanford, and an Entrepreneurship MBA from Babson College.
News
From Hologic to Ark Surgical: Why Joseph LaBruzzo is betting on the future of women’s surgical innovation
After more than two decades leading organisations at some of the world’s most respected medical device companies, including Hologic, SenoRx Breast Care, and BTL Industries, Joseph B. LaBruzzo is embarking on a new chapter as President & CEO of U.S. Operations and Board Member at Ark Surgical.
We sat down with Joseph to discuss what drew him to Ark Surgical, why he believes women’s surgical innovation is entering a transformative era, and what it takes to bring meaningful technologies from concept to standard of care.
You have held leadership positions at some of the biggest names in MedTech. What attracted you to Ark Surgical?
Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to work with organisations that developed technologies capable of changing the standard of care.
What attracted me to Ark Surgical is the opportunity to help address a meaningful unmet need in gynecologic surgery with an innovation that has the potential to improve patient outcomes while preserving the benefits of minimally invasive surgery.
Opportunities like that don’t come along very often.
FemTech World recently highlighted that many women remain unaware of gynecologic cancers and that unexpected diagnoses continue to have a profound impact on patients and families.
How has your own experience shaped the way you think about innovation in women’s health?
Earlier in my career, I witnessed many women receive life-changing cancer diagnoses.
Those experiences stayed with me and reinforced my belief that if there’s an opportunity to reduce risk through better innovation, it’s one worth pursuing.
That’s one of the reasons I was drawn to Ark Surgical.
The vast majority of minimally invasive gynecologic procedures are performed for conditions believed to be benign. Unfortunately, in rare cases, pathology later reveals an unexpected malignancy.
LapBox was designed with a proprietary dual-wall tissue containment system to help facilitate contained specimen retrieval and minimise the risk of tissue spillage during laparoscopic procedures.
I believe innovations like this can help surgeons manage the unexpected while preserving the many benefits of minimally invasive surgery for women.
Women’s health has gained significant momentum in recent years, yet surgical innovation often receives less attention than diagnostics or therapeutics. Why do you think that is?
Women’s health has historically been underfunded and underserved across many areas of medicine, and surgery is no exception.
While we’ve seen tremendous advances in diagnostics and pharmaceuticals, there are still important opportunities to improve the surgical experience for both physicians and patients.
Innovation that enhances safety, efficiency, and outcomes has the potential to make a lasting impact.
What excites you most about LapBox?
LapBox addresses a very real challenge that gynecologic surgeons face during minimally invasive procedures.
It was thoughtfully designed to integrate seamlessly into the surgical workflow while providing an added layer of confidence when tissue retrieval is required.
I believe technologies that solve real clinical challenges in a practical way have the greatest potential to become part of the standard of care.
What do you see as the biggest unmet needs in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery today?
The future of surgery isn’t simply about making procedures less invasive. It’s about making them smarter and safer.
Surgeons need technologies that integrate seamlessly into their workflow while helping them navigate increasingly complex clinical situations.
Every advancement that helps reduce risk while preserving the benefits of minimally invasive surgery has the potential to improve outcomes for both physicians and patients.
That’s where I believe the greatest opportunities for innovation exist.
As you take on this new role, what are your priorities over the next 12 months?
Our focus over the next 12 months is to build a strong foundation for growth. That means expanding physician partnerships, driving early clinical adoption, growing our team, and ensuring that more surgeons have access to technologies like LapBox.
At the same time, we’re focused on building strategic relationships with investors, healthcare systems, and industry partners that support our long-term vision.
What advice would you give entrepreneurs building the next generation of women’s health companies?
Start with a real clinical problem and never lose sight of the patient.
Great technology alone isn’t enough. You also need strong clinical evidence, physician advocates, and a clear market strategy. The companies that succeed are the ones that bring all of those pieces together while remaining focused on improving patient care.
About Joseph B. LaBruzzo
As President & CEO of U.S. Operations and Board Member, Joseph LaBruzzo is leading Ark Surgical’s U.S. growth strategy, physician partnerships, strategic investment initiatives, and organisational expansion, supporting the company’s mission to advance safer minimally invasive gynecologic surgery through innovative technologies.
Cancer cells may hijack a fertility protein to repair damaged DNA and survive chemotherapy, research suggests.
The findings could point to a way of making existing cancer treatments more effective.
SYCP1 is a protein normally involved in producing sperm and eggs.
Researchers at the University of Liverpool found that the protein, previously thought to work only in reproduction, can be reactivated in cancer cells, where it helps tumours survive and grow.
SYCP1 usually helps chromosomes pair during meiosis, the form of cell division that produces reproductive cells.
In cancer cells, however, the protein appears to take on another role. It enters the nucleus, the cell’s control centre, binds directly to DNA and regulates genes involved in cell division and DNA repair.
DNA repair is how cells fix damage to their genetic code. In cancer, this process can help tumour cells survive treatment.
The researchers found that removing SYCP1 made cancer cells much more sensitive to chemotherapy drugs that damage DNA.
The findings suggest cancers may use SYCP1 to repair damage caused by treatment and continue growing.
Dr Urszula McClurg, lecturer in biochemistry, cell and systems biology at the University of Liverpool, said: “Our findings show that cancer cells can hijack proteins that normally exist only in reproductive tissues and give them completely new jobs.
“Understanding these unexpected functions opens up exciting opportunities to develop new treatments that make existing cancer therapies more effective.”
The work challenges the long-held belief that proteins active only in fertility have no biological relevance outside the reproductive system.
Researchers say these specialised proteins could provide new treatment targets across many types of cancer.
The study also offers a new view of how cancers evolve by repurposing developmental and reproductive processes.
The findings highlight SYCP1 as a candidate for future precision cancer therapies, which are treatments based on the specific biology of a patient’s cancer.
Women’s health has become one of the most searched and shared topics online, from cycle syncing and cortisol management to menopause hacks, supplements, hormone testing and clinician-creator content.
That surge in attention, sometimes dubbed “healthmaxxing,” is changing how women find, evaluate and act on health information, and it is starting to reshape the relationship between patients, clinicians and the companies building products for this market.
For providers, the shift means patients are arriving better informed but also more exposed to unverified claims, putting pressure on clinicians to engage with online narratives rather than dismiss them.
For femtech and pharma companies, it opens a route to reach and educate consumers at scale, but also raises the stakes on credibility: products and messaging that ride the trend without clinical grounding risk eroding the trust the industry has spent years building.
Investors are watching the same dynamic from a different angle.
Attention-driven demand can be a signal of where the next wave of femtech growth will come from, but distinguishing genuine clinical need from viral momentum is increasingly part of due diligence.
The net effect is a widening gap between companies that treat cultural attention as a distribution channel for credible, evidence-based care, and those that risk being swept up in trends with little clinical substance behind them.
How that gap plays out will shape patient trust, clinical relationships and commercial opportunity across the women’s health industry for years to come.
These themes will be explored in more depth in an upcoming webinar, “Women’s Healthmaxxing: The Opportunity & Risks of Cultural Attention for the Women’s Health Industry,” hosted by the Women’s Health Innovation Summit (WHIS), featuring Ellen Wilcox (Listen Ventures), Jessica Bell van der Wal (Frame Fertility), Dr. Tosin Sotubo-Ajayi (NHS, BBC and more) and Nora Lansen (Elektra Health).
Register free for the webinar on 23 July 2026 at https://events.virtualpro.com/womens-health-series-webinar-july-2026/registration
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