1-in-3 Women Suffer From Incurable Pelvic Health Issues
According to the National Institutes of Health, one in every three women will experience pelvic health issues in their lifetime. However, the technology used to help women rehabilitate their pelvic floor muscles has not been updated since the 1930s.
When Rachel Bartholomew, Hyivy’s founder, was receiving treatment for cervical cancer, she found herself frustrated with the lack of innovation in pelvic floor technology, when she knew that so many women needed similar kinds of rehabilitation. While searching for support groups on Facebook, she found groups of women expressing outrage about the lack of useful products and innovation. In each group, women asked for better aftercare options and more research into the products currently on the market.
Bartholomew saw how the lack of research in pelvic health had created a system that fails women. "There's a lot of really bad pseudoscience out there. In terms of products currently available, many of them are marketed as something that can help. The reality is that when they're tested in clinical trials, they often don't perform as advertised," she says.
Hyivy’s Solution
Innovation for pelvic floor rehabilitation is long overdue. Instead of the traditional cold plastic or silicone dilators, the Hyivy device, Floora, is a 3-in-1 smart device that aims to make the rehab experience as comfortable as possible with thermal therapy, lubrication, and auto-dilation. Bartholomew explains, "You wouldn't have a massage without oil. We put heating pads on sore muscles; it's the same concept in these pelvic floor muscles. Dilation works to massage the surrounding muscles and tissues and break down the scar tissue that occurs from postpartum tearing, gender affirmation surgery, menopausal atrophy, or radiation damage."
The Hyivy device integrates with an app that connects patients to a Hyivy Accredited Clinician. The app can gather objective and subjective data about the pelvic floor, and allows patients to track their progress, gamify their treatments, and participate in on-demand virtual sessions with their therapist.
Hyivy Health’s Recognition
Early on, Hyivy Health was selected for several accelerators including HITLAB’s Digital Health Cohort and ventureLAB’s Tech Undivided Program. They went on to win the Communitech Nydesign Hardware Incubator pitch competition and secure $1.1 million in pre-seed funding. Rachel Bartholomew has been recognized as an emerging leader in healthcare by The Peak, and as the Entrepreneur under 40 at the K-W Oktoberfest Rogers Women of the Year Awards.
How Femovate Helps
Hyivy was awarded sponsorship through Guidea’s Femovate program for ‘22 and ‘23-’24.
As part of the sponsorship, Guidea digital health experts worked with Hyivy to map the patient journey and evolve the patient app experience to support women who will use the rehabilitation system to address and improve pelvic pain. We conducted UX research with participants to understand what they need and expect from a medtech companion app. We used the research to inform the design and are currently working with on the corresponding provider portal.
For more information about Hyivy Health, visit hyivy.com and follow them on LinkedIn
For more information on Femovate visit www.femovate.com and follow us on LinkedIn
For interviews please contact Theresa Neil
