What are important areas where better technology would support women’s health? Findings from a priority setting partnership

Background Women’s health has historically lacked investment in research and development. Technologies that enhance women’s health (‘FemTech’) could contribute to improving this. However, there has been little work to understand which priority unmet needs should be a focus for women’s health technology development. The voices of clinicians and those who experience and utilise these technologies (including those used at home or encountered in clinical settings) are needed to ensure that device development aligns with need, without risking exacerbating or creating health inequities. Method We undertook a priority setting partnership project exploring unmet needs in women’s health and well-being where physical technologies or innovations could help. This comprised gathering feedback from: patients and clinicians using both qualitative surveys and discussions; collating and publishing these responses and asking for feedback; evidence checking unmet needs identified, and holding a partnership priority setting event to agree a top 10 and top 20 list of priorities. Results We generated a ‘longlist’ of 54 suggestions for areas where better kit, devices or equipment could support women’s health. For three, we found evidence of existing technologies which mitigated against that need. We took the remaining 51 suggestions to a partnership priority setting meeting which brought together clinicians and service users. Through discussion as this group, we generated a list of the top 10 areas identified as priorities for technological development and improvement. These included better devices to manage examination, diagnosis and treatment of pelvic pain (including endometriosis), prolapse care, continence (treatment and prevention, related to pregnancy and beyond), menstruation, vaginal pain and vaginismus, point of care tests for common infections, and nipple care when breastfeeding. Conclusion The top priorities suggest far-reaching areas of unmet need across women’s life course and across multiple domains of health and well-being, and opportunities where innovation in the devices that people use themselves or encounter in health settings could potentially enhance health and healthcare experiences. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12905-023-02778-2.


Pain in women
Device to measure hormones as a trigger for migraine Better tests for pelvic pain Better dilator technology for women with vaginismus (painful vaginal spasms) and for women following surgery or radiotherapy Better ways to administer pain relief for pelvic pain Please drag and drop these statements from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom.
You can focus on just your 'top three' if it's easier.
Pain in women 2.

Screening and health promotion
Technology to allow women to take their own swabs and smears

More comfortable breast screening tests
Breast screening tests which don't involve X-Rays Ways to visualise your genital anatomy and pelvic floor to help with education and pelvic floor exercises

Diagnostics for osteoporosis
Please drag and drop these statements from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom.
You can focus on just your 'top three' if it's easier.
Screening and health promotion 3.

Pelvic floor care and prolapse
Technologies to support pelvic floor care -smaller, easier to use than current models, allowing biofeedback Devices to manage vaginal prolapse including self-management Measuring tools to get the right vaginal pessary size and shape (a pessary is supportive device that can be inserted to help with symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse) Technology to assess pelvic floor disorders Pelvic floor relaxing devices Applicators for topical oestrogen Please drag and drop these statements from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom.
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Pelvic floor care and prolapse 4.

Urinary symptoms and incontinence
Tests which can show whether fluid is urine or vaginal discharge to help investigating incontinence Better pads and products for urine leakage Technology or device assisted preventative care in pregnancy to reduce problems with urine leakage or incontinence Please drag and drop these statements from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom.
Urinary symptoms and incontinence 5.

Pregnancy
Home monitoring devices for pregnancy to alert mum if something is wrong and she needs to be assessed Tests to confirm whether there is a leak of amniotic fluid (waters) in pregnancy Home tests to help diagnose and monitor early pregnancies in women who have had repeated miscarriages previously Monitoring during labour which doesn't require stickers to stick to the abdomen Technology which can be used before birth to reduce perineal damage from the birth Underwear to relieve or help manage discomfort and bleeding after giving birth Blood pressure monitoring to mitigate the risk of pre-eclampsia Home Doppler ultrasound devices for fetal heartbeat monitoring Device for self-insertion of dinoprostone (medication used to induce labour) Technology to support recovery from diastasis recti (separation of the abdominal muscles during pregnancy) Please drag and drop these statements from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom.
You can focus on just your 'top three' if it's easier.Pregnancy 9.
https://forms.office.com/pages/designpagev2.aspx?token=fbc6ab407c144339a78a9c5a725df149&subpage=design&id=G96VzPWXk0-0uv5ou… 11/14 Breastfeeding Technology to make nipple thrush cream easier to apply and keep in the right place Technology to address nipple pain while breast feeding Better technology to collect dripping breast milk Please drag and drop these statements from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom.
You can focus on just your 'top three' if it's easier.Breastfeeding 10.

Intimate examination and speculums
Devices to examine the vagina and cervix which are comfortable and work for women of different sizes, with wombs which sit at different angles Devices to examine the vagina and cervix which are comfortable and work for trans men and pregnant women and women with pelvic pain.
Devices for self-examination of the vagina and cervix Surgical gowns designed for women A device to examine the womb and cervix without needing a speculum Devices to let women put local anaesthetic or pain relief into their cervix or vagina before procedures -including speculum, coil fitting or examinations of the womb.
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https://forms.office.com/pages/designpagev2.aspx?token=fbc6ab407c144339a78a9c5a725df149&subpage=design&id=G96VzPWXk0-0uv5ou… 13/14 Menopause Tests to identify menopause better and earlier Better tests to predict, prevent or diagnose osteoporosis in women Better ways to deliver hormones into the vagina to treat dryness and pain due to the menopause Device to monitor hormones as a cause of symptoms of menopause HRT patches which don't fall off Varied colour HRT patches (for all skin colours) Please drag and drop these statements from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom.

Menopause 12.
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Other considerations
Better ways to measure women's weight and advise them about diet Better ways to diagnose and manage conditions that affect women more often than men Better ways to diagnose and manage conditions that affect women differently from men Technologies that help keep women safe when they are out Sporting equipment that is designed for women, and for a range of women's shapes and sizes Please drag and drop these statements from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom.
You can focus on just your 'top three' if it's easier.
Home urine infection tests Home tests for vaginal thrush Point of care tests for STIs -for both men and women.Examples include chlamydia and trichomonas Better rapid infection tests to look for STIs in the context of possible pelvic inflammatory disease.Less invasive or home tests for sexually transmitted diseases Something to help keep ointments in the right place on the vulva or nipple (and stop them going onto skin) Home tests for nipple thrush, especially during breast feeding Please drag and drop these statements from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom.You can focus on just your 'top three' if it's easier.Infections 6. Contraception Better non-hormonal contraceptives Better designs for hormonal contraceptives Hormone tests to help women use contraception tailored to their needs and avoiding side effects Better technology to reduce the discomfort of inserting a coil or Mirena coil Pain relief that could be self-inserted prior to coil fittings A coil that would allow women to easily check if it is in the right place Male contraceptive pill -the burden falls solely on women Varied size contraceptive ring Contraceptive patches in a variety of skin tones New contraception forms such as reversible non-surgical sterilisation Please drag and drop these statements from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom.You can focus on just your 'top three' if it's easier.Contraception 7.https://forms.office.com/pages/designpagev2.aspx?token=fbc6ab407c144339a78a9c5a725df149&subpage=design&id=G96VzPWXk0-0uv5ouF… 9/14 Fertility Tests to help people who struggle to conceive know when they are most fertile More environmentally friendly pregnancy and ovulation tests Please drag and drop these statements from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom.