One in every ten women is diagnosed with it and it takes around seven years for a diagnosis. For decades, the medical tech world has mostly ignored this issue. Endometriosis is one of the most common understudied, under diagnosed and under recognised disease that plague society today. Endometriosis is the condition characterised by the growth of endometrial tissue outside of the uterus, which can be excruciatingly painful. The question is not only about the delays, but why we are only starting to do something about it now?
What Exactly Is Endometriosis
Chronic pelvic pain, agonising periods, painful intercourse and infrequently infertility are just a few symptoms impacting approximately 170 million women, Endometriosis is an enormous public health crisis. Research from the University of York in 2024 has shown that the average time to diagnose Endometriosis is 6.6 years and women in the United Kingdom have waited nearly 27 years.
What are the Symptoms of Endometriosis?
Endometriosis presents in many different ways. The NHS outlines that symptoms can range in severity and does not reflect the stage of the condition. People can experience severe pain, while some may not experience symptoms at all. Most commonly, there are period pains that are beyond the threshold of normal cramping. The pain can be so intense that it obstructs the performance of daily activities. Pelvic pain, which may be present during and even outside of the menstrual cycle is another common pain experienced.
Commonly Reported Symptoms of Endometriosis
Endometriosis can have a range of symptoms, from heavy and painful periods, to back pain and much more. Other commonly reported symptoms include:
- Heavy or irregular periods, sometimes requiring frequent changes of pads or tampons
- Pain during or after sex
- Pain when urinating or during bowel movements, particularly during a period
- Lower back or abdominal pain
- Extreme tiredness or fatigue
- Digestive symptoms, such as bloating, diarrhoea or constipation during menstruation
- Difficulty getting pregnant, as endometriosis can sometimes affect fertility
The NHS also mention that there is still no known cause of endometriosis and there are currently no treatments that can cure it.
Why Is It So Hard to Diagnose?
For a long time, the only conclusive way to diagnose endometriosis was through laparoscopy, which is a type of surgery. Endometriosis cannot be confirmed with a simple blood test or a scan. However, the problem is not only biological, it is also cultural. Women’s pain has been trivialised, normalised and dismissed over time. ‘Period pain is just part of being a woman‘… so we have all heard before. Cramping is a reason to take a pain killer and carry on.
Doctors keep women’s conditions ‘hiding in plain sight’. Women have been pushed to see their GP for years and have their pain dismissed, misdiagnosed or just written off as having IBS or anxiety, basically as a medical mystery.
What Has the Tech Industry Done?
The FemTech sector has only scant attention, and it has only recently begun to develop in the last 10 years or so. That is decades after the revolution of personal computing and decades after the internet revolutionised everything else. Male bias has persisted in medical research for far too long. Most research literature covers male anatomy, while viewing female anatomy as a side variation. Meanwhile, much of the clinical research that exists excludes women, so all of the drugs, diagnostics and devices developed leave out half the population. When foundational science is incomplete, the technology grounded in it will also be incomplete.
What Has Changed and Why Now?
The good news is that something has shifted. It’s not a single moment but a convergence, of louder patient advocacy, more women in tech and medicine and a growing recognition that women’s health is not a niche market but an enormous, underleveraged opportunity. The WHO published its first-ever fact sheet on endometriosis only in 2021. That’s not a typo. 2021. For a condition affecting one in ten women of reproductive age globally, formal recognition at the world’s foremost health body arrived remarkably late. But it did arrive and with it, a signal that the tide was turning.
How Social Media is Helping
Women have taken to social media to speak about their experience with the condition. This has resulted in the creation of a social media community around endometriosis. These communities have resulted in social media pressure towards change.
What is The Impact of Endometriosis
The impact of endometriosis in the UK is not only psychological and emotional, but also financial. It is no surprise as it is a condition that affects approximately 1.5 million women. Research by Endometriosis UK states that endometriosis costs the UK economy approximately 8.2 billion pounds annually, which includes both direct and indirect costs of the condition, such as the costs of healthcare services, loss of productivity and decreased participation in the workforce.
Huge Market Opportunity for FemTech
Due to the high rates of Endometriosis and such a large number of the female population affected, this results in a considerable economic opportunity for:
- AI-powered diagnostic solutions
- Imaging and biomarker diagnostics
- Digital symptom tracking
- Hormonal and non-hormonal therapeutics
- Pain management solutions
Historically, the field has been underfunded and has been described by investors as a “white space” in healthcare innovation with considerable economic opportunity.
What is Tech Actually Doing About It Now?
The good news is that innovation is finally catching up. A new wave of startups is attacking the diagnostic delay problem from multiple angles and the approaches are genuinely exciting.
In the UK, a startup called Revela recently raised pre-seed funding to develop AI-powered software that analyses ultrasound scans for signs of endometriosis. The technology aims to flag subtle markers earlier in the diagnostic pathway, giving clinicians better information before they even consider surgery.
